Addiction
by RebbieChan
Summary: Robin starts to become addicted to her powers. Will Amon and the gang be able to help her or end up making matters worse? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Frustration

**This is my first M rated fic! (It's rated this for later chapters)Please review because I'm not sure if this story will turn out ok, so I need feedback!**

---

**Chapter one:**

**Frustration**

"Robin is in position. It's a go, Amon!" Cracked Michael's voice over the microphones. It was a simple setup, Amon get behind the witch and chases after him to where Robin lays hidden in wait to entrap him in flames, Amon takes the shot and their done. Simple.

Amon turned the corner to where the witch was, firing shots to send him off running. This witch was weak, choosing to run instead of fight. Just as planned. Now all that he needed to do was wait for Robin's attack.

_Here he comes. _Robin braced herself for the attack. The heat around her began to increase in her anticipation. _Any moment now. _The heat pricked at her arms and face, pleading to be turned into fire. That simple feeling was painful, every time she felt it Robin knew she needed to burn something. The heat pricked and prodded, increasing every moment. Sweat rolled down her face, she needed to burn something now. Where was that witch? Hotter and hotter, it didn't matter that the witch wasn't there yet, it was too much.

Robin sighed with content, releasing the flames. The small act felt so good! It was so relieving to push the heat away from her that she didn't notice the witch see the fire as he ran out of the ally into the open area and escape.

"Damn it, Robin!" Amon cursed, slowing his run when he saw what had happened. He stalked over to the small girl. Robin stared at her feet, not wanting to face him after screwing up so bad. "That's the sixth time this month!" He glowered down at her. "Well?"

"I'm sorry." She said quietly, not looking up. Every mission they had gotten was just as simple as this one and every time she either struck too early or not at all. She already knew exactly what Amon was going to say to her.

"You've let six witches get away, six. What are you doing that is making this so difficult for you?" His voice barley ever moved an octave up or down as he spoke. Robin kept her head down and apologized again. "Do you even care that they got away?" She didn't answer, usually after saying this he would sigh, storm back to the car and tell everyone that she failed, again. In truth, she really didn't care that she had failed except for the fact that the witch was still out there and that everyone back at the STN-J would each take their turns lecturing her. The lecturing was annoying, Robin thought, _yeah, I messed up, what can I do about it now? Nothing. So quit telling me how bad I did, I already know that._

"C'mon." Amon roughly grabbed Robin's left arm and jerked her forwards. He was getting fed up with her constant slip ups. Yeah, she was a kid and kids make mistakes, but this was getting ridiculous.

Robin winced, Amon was squeezing her arm too tight, she tripped forwards from his push. She let out a sigh of annoyance, he didn't have to lead her away like a criminal.

"What do you have to complain about." Amon snapped in response to her annoyed sigh. "This is your fault." Hearing Amon say 'this is your fault' caused Robin to chuckle, it sounded so childish coming from him that she couldn't help it. Of course, this made him angrier, if she was going to screw up she should at least act like she felt bad about it. "You think this is funny?" His voice became dangerously low and his grip on her arm grew tighter. "Why can't you take this seriously?!" He shouted, shaking her back and forth.

"Amon." Michael warned over the microphones.

"Well?!" Amon held Robin still now, his grip continued to tighten.

"Would you let go." Her voice still was quiet but it was demanding. She still had her eyes on the ground as she grabbed his wrist with her free hand, trying to pull it away.

"Robin." He growled, pushing her into a wall close behind her. Robin hit the back of her head on the brick wall and finally looked up at Amon's face. If looks could kill, he glared at her with such intensity that it scared her.

Being cornered and afraid, Robin grew defensive. "What do you want me to do?" anger seeped into her voice the longer she spoke. "If I could turn back time, I would. What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to do your job!" Amon seethed. Still tighter his grip became, if that was even possible, and he slammed her into the wall again. Robin winced in pain, this time keeping herself from hitting her head on the wall again. "What do you have to say for yourself?!" He shook her against the wall as he shouted this.

"You're hurting me!" Robin shouted in defense, trying to push him away from her.

Amon was just so angry that he didn't seem to notice and continued pushing her against the wall. "Well it's your fault if it hurts!"

"Amon, let go!" Robin cried fearfully at her partner's violent actions.

"Amon, whatever you're doing, stop it!" Michael's voice shouted.

"Why should I?!" Amon roared. By this time he knew that what he was doing was wrong and his anger continued to grow because of it, which in turn caused him to continue doing it.

'_Why should I?!'_ Robin repeated in her thoughts. That had done it. 'why should I' may just cause Amon his death. The heat around Robin intensified, telling her that he would deserve it. The heat pricked and prodded at her skin for the second time that day. It continued to tell her to burn him and at that time she wanted to. But she knew the consequences to doing something like that, she knew she couldn't do it. Still, 'burn him, hurt him.' played through her mind like a siren. She was torn, what she wanted and what was right. In a situation like that she would always choose what was right and it scared her that she even was considering the other option. It scared her so much that she began to cry.

Amon loosened his grip immediately. He stared at Robin sobbing, thinking that what he had said and done was the cause of the tears. "Robin." He whispered, letting go of her. She put her head in her hands. Seeing Robin cry because of him frustrated Amon. He hit the wall and stalked back to the car.

---

The car ride back to the STN-J building was awkward. Amon would glance down at Robin's hands in her lap while driving, his stare was one of a defeated man. Robin also stared at that same spot with the same defeated look. Both had very different thoughts.

_Why did I do that? _Amon thought._ What was the point? What if I really hurt her, she's just a kid. Damn it! Why did I have to lose my temper like that?_

_What was I thinking? _Robin thought. _It really was my fault, why did I even think of burning him? If I had, I'd be dead and he might have been as well. Oh, Forgive me! How could I have thought something like that?_

The car pulled into the parking garage. Slowly, the two pulled themselves out of the car and braced themselves for the reprimand they both knew they would get for their actions. The silence between them made it worse, like the calm before the storm, or maybe the eye of the hurricane in this case. Never before had something even come up between them. They had for a while seemed like they had the perfect partnership.

They stood calmly next to each other in silence on the elevator while in their minds they were both freaking out. Precious time ticked away as the elevator moved up, what were they going to say to get out of this? Robin had another worry though, the heat that she didn't use on Amon had stuck with her!

She shifted uncomfortably, sweat pouring from everywhere. It was getting hard to breathe.

_Ding!_ The elevator reached the top and the doors opened. They were greeted with silence. Their coworkers stared at them with worry, none of them actually knew what had happened between Amon and Robin. Michael couldn't get a camera view of that area so they only knew what he had heard.

Chief Zeizen came out of his office. "Amon I want to speak with you." He motioned for the lead hunter to come into his office. Amon nodded and dutifully enter the office, AKA: hell.

Robin kept her eyes to the ground and made her way to her desk. The others' eyes followed her. It seemed to Robin that heat came from their eyes like lasers. "What?" She asked irritably. The heat was getting to her and affecting her attitude.

Karasuma decided not to pry, however much she wanted to, if Robin wanted to tell them or if Zeizen found reason to inform them they would find out, if not, oh well. Dojima, on the other hand had no workplace morals. "So, what happened?" She asked excitedly.

"Dojima!" Sakaki and Michael hissed, even though they were just as curious.

"I let the witch get away again." Robin replied softly, not wanting to talk about it. She laid her head on the cool surface of her desk, making the heat easier to bear.

"And…?" Dojima urged her forward. The women was just about bouncing with anticipation.

"And what?" Robin snapped although her quiet voice made it sound more like a sigh. She usually wasn't so irritable, but she was exhausted and Dojima was interrupting her rest.

Dojima opened her mouth to speak but Karasuma silenced her. "If she doesn't want to talk about it she doesn't have to." At this Michael and Sakaki turned back to their workstations. Crestfallen, the offending blond sighed and wheeled her chair back to her's as well.

Dojima slumped over in her chair, but something caught her eye. She could see into Zeizen's office! She scooted closer to see if she could catch part of their conversation through reading lips.

Zeizen noticed the woman staring eagerly at him and Amon through the glass. He sighed and shut the blinds on her.

With the wound of a new defeat, Dojima sighed and hung her head. "Shut down!" Sakaki exclaimed, giving her a thumbs down.

"Honestly!" Karasuma sighed, shaking her head at the two. She looked back at Robin, who continued to sit desolately. "Why don't you ask for permission to go home early." Karasuma offered, lightly placing her hand on Robin's right shoulder.

Slowly Robin pushed her chair back, stood up, walked to Zeizen's office door, and knocked. "What?" Amon asked coldly as he opened the door, then he noticed Robin and stepped backwards to let her in.

"Sir, would it be alright for me to retire for tonight?" Robin asked, avoiding Amon's eyes.

"Fine." Zeizen replied after a long pause. "But come to my office first thing tomorrow morning."

Robin nodded and turned to leave. "Goodnight, sir. Goodnight, Amon." She said softly before exiting.

---

Robin found herself stuck in the parking lot. She slowly tried to lift her left arm to the handlebars of her motorized scooter. Her arm zinged with pain at the small movement. She tried driving with one hand but steering proved to be too hard. Finally she gave up and walked the vespa home.

Not to Robin's surprise, Toko wasn't home. Where that woman went Robin didn't know, Toko did have a job, but no inclination to keep it, she had it pretty much so she wouldn't get bored in the day. Her father paid for the apartment, food, electricity, you name it. And it showed too, Toko was very much a spoiled brat, not like Robin was going to say anything about it.

Being irritated and hot, the young hunter decided that it was a good time for a cool bath. Baths were probably the best thing in the world, so relaxing. All the excess heat drifted away. Robin let out a sigh, she would have been in complete comfort if it wasn't for her throbbing left arm. She looked down at it and saw that it was a disgusting purplish blue color where Amon's hand had been. There also was little indents where his fingers were. Robin thought it looked gross. She huffed and sunk deeper into the tub.

A small noise came from the entryway of the apartment. Robin sat up straight in surprise as she heard the front door creak open. It could only mean one thing, Toko was home. Robin leapt out of the tub and quickly tried to wrap a towel around her. If Toko wasn't a spoiled brat than she definitely still had one other issue.

"Hey Robin's home!" Robin heard the woman say. "Robin, do you know what happened to me today?!" Toko burst into the bathroom. That other issue was that she had no knowledge of personal space. It wasn't an appealing trait.

"Toko, I'm in the bathroom!" Robin complained.

"That's great, honey, I know." Toko said, not noticing Robin's agitation. "Amon and I had a date planned today and he canceled! What a jerk!" Robin stared blankly at Toko, she had to burst into the bathroom to tell her this? She wondered how messed up a mind must be to do such a thing.

Somehow, Toko took Robin's expression as a reason to continue talking. "I know, right? Apparently he got in trouble with daddy or something and 'doesn't feel up to it', what does that even mean?"

Robin drew in a wary breath, at times like these anything could set Toko off. "Toko, I really don't think he was trying to be me-"

"Oh my God!" Toko exclaimed, moving closer to Robin. "What happened to your arm?!"

"It's-" Robin tried to speak, but her quiet voice was drowned out by Toko's loud voice.

"Did this happen on a mission? Are you alright? I heard you failed a mission, but I didn't know you got hurt!" She continued to ask questions rapidly, never giving room for an answer. Finally, she came to an end to her rant. "How did Amon let this happen to you, now I really have something to be mad at him about!"

Robin found it funny that Toko would have never guessed that Amon was the direct cause of the injury. Toko would always go on about how 'amazing' Amon was, but the way she talked about him made him seem like something he wasn't and Robin wondered if either of the two knew the real him.

"C'mon, lets put some ice on it." The older woman dragged Robin, still clothed in only a towel and much to her protest, into the small kitchen area. Robin sighed in exasperation when she noticed that the curtains were wide open.

When Toko seemed to have calmed down and Robin held a bag of ice to her arm, she asked again. "What happened today? You can tell me."

Robin avoided her eyes, how could she tell her? What was she supposed to say? 'Oh you know your amazingly perfect boyfriend, Amon, right? Yeah, for some reason I pissed him off and he flipped out. Nothing much, just about ripped my arm off, but no big deal, right?' Though it would be interesting to see her reaction. Would she get mad at him and possibly breakup? Would she be unaffected? Or would she even believe her?

"I failed my mission again, that's all." Robin said, strained. It was hard to keep saying that when she wanted to tell the whole truth. She kept saying 'I failed' and that was starting to get to her. She stood up from her chair and hurried to her room.

"Robin!" Toko called out to the young girl. No answer. She sighed and went over to Robin's room. Peeking in, she saw Robin lying in bed with her face in her pillow. Toko turned out of the room and muttered to herself. "Why did I have to get stuck with the moody teen?"

Toko hadn't meant for anyone to hear what she said, but Robin heard. She was a burden to the older woman. But what could she do? She couldn't buy her own apartment until she turned eighteen. That was three years! It hurt. She tried to stay out of Toko's way and help out as much as possible and now, after one incident, she can't seem to stand having her around. It really wasn't fair.

Robin groaned in annoyance and she heard Toko sigh. Robin opened one eye and saw Toko peeking in again. The older woman started into the room. Robin shut her eyes and pushed her face deeper into her pillow. "Would you tell me what's wrong?" Toko asked softly, lightly placing a hand on Robin's back. The kind gesture was almost…motherly. It made Robin sick. She felt that Toko should just say what she really means and not this fake kindness. 'Fake kindness' probably went too far, but Robin was upset and didn't care.

"Are you hungry? Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Toko offered when she received no response. Robin tried to ignore her even though she hadn't eaten dinner yet. It wasn't long until Toko sighed and left the room.

Robin laid still waiting for sleep to come, it didn't. She couldn't sleep with all that had happened that day. Everything was just so frustrating! The feeling was gnawing at the back of her mind and she wished that she had a way to ease the feeling away. She wished she had a way to feel good.


	2. rainy night

**Sorry if things get a little cheesy here and there, when I re-read my stuff I always think it sounds cheesy so I don't know. Also, sorry for the long wait, the first chap. took me a month to write so you can guess how pathetically slow I am.**

**Chapter two:**

**A Rainy Night**

Rain soaked Robin on her way to Raven's Flat. It was a cold gray morning. The weather took a turn for the worse last night and storms were predicted to last all week. This was horrible news for Robin, ridding a little scooter to work now seemed like a terrible idea.

"What a way to start the day." Robin mumbled, ringing out her hair and clothes in the parking lot. No one else was there yet. Except Michael, but he was always here. It was a good thing that no one had arrived yet. Robin liked it quiet. To a degree, at least.

"Wow, you look horrible." Michael said when Robin came out of the elevator.

"Thanks." Robin sank into her chair and stared up at the ceiling. "Zeizen isn't here yet?"

"You're the first one here. Which I don't understand, you should have called and gotten a ride with someone else." Michael answered. "You would be less wet."

Robin closed her eyes. She should have, but who would she have called to get a ride with? She felt that if Toko had a forced kindness towards her, then who else did? She just didn't want to be a burden to anyone.

"Hey, Robin?" Michael's voice slipped to a whisper even though they were alone. "What _did_ happen yesterday?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"What are you going to tell Zeizen, then?" Michael pointed out. "He will ask you and you can answer with that."

"I'm going to tell him that nothing happened."

"We both know that that's not true." Michael turned Robin's chair to face him and she opened her eyes. "Why aren't you going to tell him anything?"

"Because nothing really happened." Robin explained. "He just grabbed my arm too tight, that's all." Her look was almost pleading. She was tired of everyone making a big deal out of it, especially when they knew nothing about what happened.

"But you were crying. That can't be all." Michael pressed.

"What difference would it make if I told Zeizen anyway?" Robin asked, changing the subject. "Amon would get in trouble, but what good would that do?"

"I don't know." Michael admitted. "But you still need to report things like this." He was very serious when he added. "Did Amon tell you not to report it?"

Robin burst out laughing. It really wasn't that what he asked was funny, it was just that he was so serious. The thought of Amon even speaking to her outside of work was preposterous. Yesterday proved that. He probably thought that she was annoying and wanted as little to do with her as possible. Why would he care if she reported it or not, he might not even get in trouble if she did because Zeizen liked him so much.

When Robin's laughter died down she noticed that Michael was irritated. "Well sorry for worrying about you." He turned back to his computer and jabbed the keys on the keyboard harder than usual.

Robin was about to apologize when Zeizen entered the building. He didn't seem to notice the two teens at their desks, he made straight for his office. "I guess I better go." Robin said, not to Michael, but more to tell herself to move. She doubted that their boss would believe her when everyone else believed that something was up.

---

Robin left Zeizen's office confident that she had convinced him that nothing had happened. It was strange, but he seemed almost too eager to believe that fact. Now it was Amon's turn again to hear from their boss. "Amon, Zeizen wants to speak with you." She said. Amon started towards the office when Dojima came towards them from the elevator.

"Good morning Robin!" She was over peppy today and added a punch to the arm into her greeting. Robin's left arm. It wasn't that she had hit her all that hard, she had just hit her in the exact place where the huge bruise was. Robin staggered backwards into Amon as he was passing by. He caught her to prevent her from falling. "Sheesh, Robin, I didn't know you were such a wimp." Dojima teased, flopping into her chair.

"uh, yeah." Robin mumbled. She straightened up, Amon still holding on to her. Their closeness was weird, he had one arm around her middle and the other on her back. He hadn't ever touched her before, minus yesterday, and the feeling it gave her was strange. She felt …light, like her mind became full of feathers. She blushed slightly.

"I should get going." Amon released his hold on her suddenly and awkwardly. He just stood there for a second, glancing between Robin and Zeizen's office, then turned quickly towards the later and disappeared behind it's door.

"Well that was weird." Dojima said, eying Robin suspiciously. The blond had that look in her eye that she had right before she said something stupid. It was a knowing look being worn by someone who didn't know.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Robin returned to her desk and started up her computer.

"I'm just saying," Dojima continued in an uninterested tone, eyes on a suduko puzzle. "I don't think you're roommate would be happy with you if you stole her precious boyfriend."

Robin's face turned beat red. Her mouth gaped open but no words came out. What the hell was Dojima thinking?! "I-I ju-…uh, What?" She managed to stammer out.

"You heard me." A smile played across Dojima's lips. "I know that look."

"What look?" Robin demanded. She really didn't want to talk about this, especially in front of everyone else in the office.

"You know." Dojima suppressed her laughter. She enjoyed trying to get Robin all flustered, it was funny. Robin caught on that she was just trying to bug her, she rolled her eyes and returned to her work.

It wasn't long until Amon returned from the office. Right away he sent Sakaki and Karasuma to scout out the witch from yesterday. Michael and Robin were assigned to search for new cases. Dojima took it upon herself to get some more coffee beans for the coffee machine and disappeared for the rest of the day.

Things seemed to be back to normal, Robin concluded at the end of the day. She readied herself to head back out into the rain that had gotten worse throughout the day.

"Robin." From behind her she heard Amon call her name. She turned to see him coming from the elevator. "Do you want a ride home?"

"Yes, thank you." She replied. It wasn't as if she could say no, there would be no reason why she would, except to avoid him. She knew that he was going to ask why she didn't tell on him and that's the reason he offered. Or maybe it was a 'thanks' and 'sorry'. Or maybe he was just preventing her from dying out there from hypothermia. Yeah, that was the most likely answer. Robin followed Amon into his car. "It's like a monsoon out there." She commented.

"It's hard enough driving in it, I can't imagine how bad it would be on that thing." Amon nodded to Robin's scooter. He buckled himself in and started the car. Silence followed until the car was out in the rain. It pounded at the vehicle and even seeing up to the edge of the hood was difficult. Cop cars screamed across the road towards countless crashes.

_Ring! Ring! _Robin checked her pockets for her phone and found that the sound wasn't coming from hers. "Could you get that for me?" Amon said, focusing on the road. Robin leaned over and reached into his coat pocket for his phone.

"Hello?"

"…Robin?" Came Toko's voice on the other end.

"Oh, Toko! Amon offered me a ride home because it's raining." Robin explained.

"Alright, well I was calling to tell Amon that the street in front of our apartment has been blocked off." She paused. "You should just tell him to take you to his place."

"I can walk a bit, it's just rain."

"No, I mean the _whole_ street, You'd end up walking a long, long ways and it's flooding." She explained.

"Toko says the street in front our apartment is closed off." Robin said to Amon. "She says to take me home with you, but…"

"It's fine." He snapped. Actually, he sounded as if he wasn't fine with the idea but he switched lanes to head in the direction of his place anyway.

"Toko?" Robin spoke into the phone again. "Yeah, it's okay. Bye." She hung up the phone and stared out the window.

Soon, Amon pulled the car up next to the curb. Apparently, they had reached the building, but Robin could barely see it through all the rain. There was one upside to the weather; at least it wasn't snow. Snow would be torture.

Robin stepped out of the car to almost be blown away. Amon turned towards her to point out which building to head towards, but she was gone. "Robin?" He called out warily. He walked around the vehicle to see Robin lying face first on the ground. "What are you doing?"

She was soaked and lying in the middle on the street. Robin didn't want to answer that question. Although it _was_ obvious, why did she have to be a klutz? "I don't like the rain." She simply said, getting back to her feet.

Amon shook his head, it was one of those 'girls are weird' moments. He saw that Robin was leaning into the wind as if to fight it's blow. He didn't want her to fall again so he grabbed her wrist. "Come on." He said, starting into a run. When they reached the door he held it for her and followed her in.

"Quite a storm out there, eh Amon?" A man asked when they entered. He was placing mail into the different room's mailboxes. He must be the owner of the building, Robin thought. He spotted her and raised an eyebrow. "Now who's this, a girlfriend?"

Robin flushed and dropped her gaze to her feet. Amon quickly let go of Robin's wrist. "She's just someone I work with." He sounded almost angry when he said this. Robin supposed it was because he actually _had_ a girlfriend and it wasn't her.

"I see." The owner turned back to the mail. "None for you today, but there was a call for you not to long ago from a Miss Toko."

"That's alright, she called my cell phone." Amon headed for the stairs. Robin followed. Once they got half way up the staircase Amon stopped and turned back to Robin like he was going to say something.

"What?" Robin asked when he turned back around without saying anything. They came to the top and A man was sitting in his doorway, watching them. Robin thought he was weird so she kept staring at him.

Amon reached back and pulled her forward, so that he was between her and the man. "Don't look him in the eye." He whispered to her so the man wouldn't hear.

"Why?" Robin asked, trying to peer around Amon.

"He's a psychopath." Amon said. Though that didn't explain why she couldn't look him in the eye, Robin nodded and stopped trying to get a good look of him. Through the next door they passed, shouting could be heard. It sounded like a husband and wife were fighting over something. Their shouting died away after they passed two more doors and was replaced by the sound of a loud movie. The next door was Amon's and he stopped there to grab his key.

A woman dressed in black crept out of the door next to them. "Hey, Amon." She sounded sick. "Want some weed?" Or stoned. That works too.

"No." Amon snapped.

She turned to Robin. "How about your friend?" She croaked.

"She doesn't want any either." Amon pushed Robin into his room and slammed the door shut after him.

"Fun neighbors." Robin commented. She glanced around the apartment. It was small, one room plus bath. He had a twin sized bed in the far corner with a TV facing it and a dresser by the head, a small kitchen area just to the left and a table with four chairs circling it in the middle of the room.

Amon threw his coat over one of the chairs and Robin did the same. "Just wait, they get worse." He said bitterly. He bent over a pile of towels in front of the bathroom and threw one at Robin. "You'll catch a cold if you stay in those wet clothes." Next, he went over to his dresser and started digging through the clothes.

"That's okay," Robin said, knowing he wouldn't find anything that could fit her. She wasn't that wet now that she took her coat off anyway. "I'm f-fAchoo!" She sneezed into her sleeve .

"Right." Amon said sarcastically. He held up a white t-shirt. "This should be good for sleeping in?" Robin nodded, grabbed the shirt and hurried into the bathroom.

Robin wondered to herself why Toko thought that this was a good idea. She knew her roommate was a little cuckoo, but not insane! Who in their right mind would come up with something like this, Robin guessed that she thought she was just a kid and nothing would happen, but still! Wait…why would she have called Amon in the first place, she said she was going to tell him what she told her, but…they must have had another date planned. If they were going to go out every day, they should just get married and save them the trouble.

As Robin's thought train moved all over the place, Amon flipped through channels. He wasn't watching anything, it was just on for the noise. He passed a show that had a woman hanging up laundry and he stopped. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked. "You can hang the wet clothes on that shelf in there." He called. He waited at the door until he heard Robin mumble an 'ok'. Amon resumed flipping through channels.

Robin stepped out of the bath, probably the shortest she ever took and reached for the shirt Amon had given her to wear. When she put it on, it came down to about mid thigh. Robin blushed, the thought of being seen like this was unbearable.

Amon was staring blankly at the TV when he noticed movement in the corner of his eye. He spotted the bathroom door opening a crack, Robin was peering out the crack, almost like she was trying to be a spy. She glanced around caught Amon's eye and shut the door again. He wondered briefly what she was doing because she did it a second time. When she opened the door for a third time Amon asked impatiently. "What do you want?"

At the sound of his voice she jumped, knocking into the door causing it to swing open so when she tried to hold onto it for balance it continued swinging and she fell to the ground. "Nothing." She responded, sulking.

Amon suppressed a chuckle at the spectacle and returned to his dresser. He picked out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, he had to wear more than usual being that there was a girl present. "You can use the kitchen, if you want to." He said as he turned towards the bathroom.

"Oh, have you eaten yet?" Robin asked.

"No."

"Then would it be okay if I made dinner for the both of us?" It was a simple request but she was nervous about his answer.

Amon stared down at her, she was still sitting on the floor, and shrugged. "Sure, thanks." He shut the bathroom door behind him. When he hung his wet clothes to the shelf he noticed something that stayed in his mind. Robin had hung her clothes on the shelf just as he directed, her dress, her slip and her bra. _She isn't wearing a bra._ He tried shaking the thought out of his mind but it wouldn't budge. So, after a quick bath when he exited the room, he found himself staring at Robin's chest. He really didn't mean to, but for some reason every time he'd look away, he'd find himself string again. He felt like a pervert.

Robin felt awkward as she made the two of them dinner, Amon kept staring at her. He had a strange expression on his face like he was angry and his face was bright red. She thought he must have seen what she was making and didn't want to eat it, but there wasn't much in the fridge so she continued making it anyway. She was making fried chicken, there was a box of it in the fridge and not much else so she assumed it would be okay. It didn't take very long because it was one of those pre cooked things so all she had to do was heat it up.

They ate in silence and Robin was happy to find that Amon enjoyed the meal, at least she thought he did based on the way he ate. Next door they could still hear a movie playing, it sounded like one of those super long, cheesy romance films. On the other side they heard wailing. It sounded like someone was trying to summon something. When they finished eating, Robin spoke. "What are we doing for sleeping arrangements?" She glanced at the bed at the back of the room. She felt like an idiot asking it but someone had to eventually and she couldn't picture Amon doing it.

"You can have the bed." He said throwing the dishes into the dishwasher.

"No, that's all right, I'll take the floor." Robin offered, not wanting to force him out of his own bed.

Amon knew that he wasn't going to get any sleep that night either way so he thought that Robin should take the bed so at least one of them would get some sleep. "Don't be stubborn, just do as I say." The tone he used made it sound like he was talking to a little kid. It infuriated her. If he was going to treat her as a kid, she might as well act like one.

She plopped herself onto the floor, crossed her arms and asked. "Why should I?" Amon glared at her from across the room and Robin cast him a smug look. In two short steps he was standing over her, he picked her up and placed her on the bed. Then he laid down on the floor and turning his back to her.

"Just go to sleep."

Robin huffed and flipped over so that her back was to his. For a while there was silence. Then lightning flashed through the bedside window with a loud crash. Robin sat straight up in shock. She quickly glanced around the room then laid back down, this time facing Amon's back. Thunder crashed again and she jumped and clung to the sheets. "A-Amon?" She whispered. _Crash!_ "Amon, are you awake?"

Trying hard to ignore her wasn't working out very well, After every sound of thunder she would try to get his attention and now he felt her poking him in the shoulder. "What?" he finally snapped, turning around to face her. She was leaning out of the bed with on hand on the floor to keep her up. She shrunk back a bit.

"W-would you sleep next to me, please?" Robin asked softly.

Shocked, Amon repeated himself. "What!"

"W-well, it's just that…" She fumbled, embarrassed. She stopped and cringed at the thunder.

"Oh, uh…" He mumbled, understanding. Robin looked really frightened, so he grudgingly climbed into the bed next to her. Still, she looked as if something was wrong. "What is it now?"

"Actually, could I have that side?" Robin pointed towards Amon.

Amon rolled his eyes, but agreed to switch. Now he was on the side closest to the window, he assumed that that was the reason, to get away from the window. He turned his back to Robin and stared at the wall. He felt her lean into him and clutch the back of his shirt when the lightning struck. _What a dumb thing to be afraid of._ Amon thought. Nevertheless, he turned to his other side and wrapped an arm around the terrified girl.

Robin seemed to relax and when Amon looked down at her he saw a smile on her face. Maybe he was going to get to sleep tonight, he thought to himself at the sight and laid his head on the pillow.

"Oh, baby…" Amon's eyes flashed open at the sound, he glanced at Robin and saw that it hadn't come from her for she had the same 'what the hell' look on her face. Amon growled loudly, he knew where it was coming from, his neighbor must have had one of her boyfriends over. He sat up uncomfortably as the moans and thumping from next door continued.

"Sorry." Amon said. "They'll be at it for hours." He reached for the remote and flicked on the TV. "It's not like we'll get any sleep anyway."

"You were right, they did get worse." Robin referred to his earlier comment on his neighbors. She sat up and held her knees to her chest.

"And the girl over there," Amon pointed to the other wall where the pot girl lived. "thinks she's a fortune teller, 'spiritual guide' she calls herself. The room between the yelling couple and her," He pointed back at the other wall. "Is empty but our fortune teller says it's haunted. Beyond fortune teller's room is a guy whose always coming up with weird foods to test on us, then a group of people who are trying to be professional singers."

"Are they any good?" Robin asked.

"No and the practice all the time." Robin chuckled and Amon added. "I think this floor was made to house the strange."

"And you're strange because?"

"How many people hunt witches?" Amon countered.

"Good point." Conversation ended and they sat watching the television for a few hours. Amon found himself growing tired and saw that Robin had already fallen asleep against his shoulder. On her arm, he spotted the bruise he had given her. He had meant to talk to her about it but it was to late now. He'd have to wait until tomorrow.

---

**Okay, so what do you think? Please review! Actually it was going to be a whole lot longer but i chose to save that stuff for the next chapter.**


	3. Confusion

**Chapter three:**

**Confusion**

Beep. Beep beep. An alarm clock rang its hideous noise. _Alarm clocks must be the devil's work_. Robin deduced, refusing to wake up. Beep! Beep, beep! The thing cried louder and louder. Now that she thought of it, there wasn't a single alarm clock in Toko's apartment. And since when did her bed feel so hard? Robin moved her hand feeling something that shouldn't have been there, a face. Her eyes flashed open and she sat up straight, letting out a yelp in surprise.

Amon blinked open his eyes and murmured groggily. "Something wrong?" His eyesight focused, seeing Robin straddling his waist.

Robin's face flushed. "I-I'm sorry!" She watched his eyes drift lower and his cheeks turned pink. Following his gaze, she saw that her hands were dangerously low on his waist. "Sorry!" Robin raised her hands above her head so fast that she fell over backwards off the bed.

Dazed, Amon pushed himself up into a sitting position. His expression changing from embarrassment to shock when Robin hit the floor. "Shit, ow!" She cursed.

"I thought nuns didn't swear." Amon smirked.

"_I_ never said I was a nun." Robin retorted. She made a move to stand up but only ended up falling down again. Amon held back his laughter as he reached under Robin's arm and led her to her feet.

"Hurry up and get dressed, we're running late."

Robin looked at him quizzically. "But the alarm just went off a second ago." In fact, the alarm was still ringing.

Amon turned of the obnoxious alarm. "This rings when its time to leave, not when to wake up." He showed Robin the time. "See?"

"Why do you do that?" To Robin, setting an alarm that late would be suicide. She would become like Dojima and never get to the office on time.

Amon narrowed his eyes. "We are late, remember? Go get changed." He growled, changing the subject.

"Oh, right." Robin mumbled, surprised at how angry Amon sounded. She was just asking about an alarm clock, but apparently to him that brought on the end of the world. Sometimes Amon's little quirks really irked her.

Bitter silence continued to slink around them until they left his room into the hallway. There, they saw next door a man paying a young woman and hurry out of the building. The woman saw the two staring at her. "Business has been good." She smiled meekly, holding up the cash. "Sorry if we were too loud last night." When the woman retreated back inside her own room, Robin turned to Amon.

"What does she mean, 'business is good'?" She asked.

"She's a prostitute."

"I don't know what that is."

"You don't need to."

"You don't have to treat me like a kid. I think I've earned the right to be considered an adult." She added, pulling a Toko by putting her hands on her hips.

What she said was true, Amon had to give her that, being a hunter could take the childhood innocence from anyone. "It's when some is paid money for sex."

Robin's expression was one of utter shock and horror. "Th- that's horrible!" She gasped. Amon found her reaction comical, it was as if that was something impossible when he knew it was something that happened many times a day. "_That_ is a thing only given to someone you love more than anything, not a thing to be paid for!" Amon made a sound similar to a chuckle. "What's so funny about that!" She rounded on him.

"Not to burst your bubble but what you just said is a rare thing these days." Robin glared at him. "Can you honestly say that when you find 'the one' and he ends up in jail, you wouldn't want to be with him, be it for appearances or fear? Or if he died, you wouldn't remarry? Or if he cheated, you wouldn't doubt him? Can you honestly say that you believe in pure true love?" By now they had reached Amon's car.

"Yes, I can honestly say that!" Robin insisted. "If you can't, then I believe you have never felt what it is like to be loved and to love. If you can't then you wouldn't know love even if you were feeling it for another."

"And now your going to say 'but you should know that God has always loved you.'." He mocked. "How about this, what if the guy you loved was atheist?"

"Your not atheist, are you?" Robin gaped, worry showing in her eyes.

"I wouldn't say I'm anything." He replied, getting into the car.

"What do you mean by that?"

Amon closed his eyes in annoyance. "What I mean is that there probably is a God out there, I just don't like organized religion."

Robin visibly relaxed. "That's okay." She said in relief. Slowly she sunk into the passengers seat.

Amon did his almost-laugh thing again. "You didn't need to get so freaked out."

"Are you making fun of me?" Robin pouted.

"I just think your funny."

"How am I funny?" She asked. Then she came to her next conclusion. "You _are_ making fun of me!" Robin gasped. She stared at Amon, looking aghast.

Then Amon laughed, he seriously laughed. He leaned forward against the wheel, taking a hand off it to muffle the sound with his hand. Robin simply watched, wearing a 'what is going on?' expression. "Quit it, I'm trying to drive." he said.

"Quit what, the car's still in park!" Robin protested.

"Staring at me!"

"Your being weird." Robin muttered, turning her head away from him. Eyeing him from the corner of her eye, she watched him compose him self and start the car. He looked like he was thinking hard about something and his face tightened into it's usual scowl.

"Why did you lie to Zeizen yesterday?" He asked after a while.

"There's no point in getting you in trouble for something you didn't mean to do." Robin answered with a sigh, she knew he was going to bring this up sometime.

"How do you know?" Amon growled.

"What?"

"You shouldn't have done it. It was dumb." He snapped.

"Why are you angry? I helped you out!" Robin was exasperated. Why did Amon have to be so difficult? Why did she always make him angry and why did that make her so angry?

"I don't want nor need your help, for anything." He didn't raise his voice, but Robin knew he was pissed by the way his voice shook. The car stopped in a parking space. "You just don't understand." He threw himself out of the car and slammed the door behind him.

Robin moved slower as she got out of the car, startled by Amon's sudden rage. She faced the car as she shut the door and when she turned around she saw that Amon had came up from behind. He leaned towards her, his hands pressing against the car. Robin glanced sideways, uncomfortable with the situation.

"You let it off and now I can do it again. Or worse." He threatened, lessening the space between them.

"I-I guess so." Robin mumbled, refusing to look at him. She was going to say 'but i know you wouldn't' but the words caught in her throat.

"You can't let me do things like this, you know that I'll always get off without so much as a warning. Our boss favors me, He doesn't like you." With every word he inched closer and closer until his body press up against hers.

"I've noticed." Robin spoke softly, scared that if she raised her voice louder he might set off again.

"Amon! Robin! You're late and the chief is pissed!" Amon stared over Robin's head and she turned her head to see Sakaki and Karasuma coming out of the elevator. They headed towards Karasuma's car.

"We found one of the witches you missed, wish us luck." They got into the car and drove away, oblivious to the strained atmosphere.

Amon returned his gaze to Robin. "You can't go around thinking that we're friends." He spoke now in a low whisper into her ear. "Or thinking that you can 'help me out'."

"R-right" Robin shuddered and continued to stare at the space that Karasuma's car once was.

"I want you to know that you can't trust me." He moved his hand from against the car and began to caress her neck. "Because if you give him and I the chance, you might just end up dead." Amon leaned further forward and Robin felt herself being bent backwards onto the roof of the car, her feet leaving the ground.

A cold fear ran through Robin's body. Her hands fell to the sides of her head , she kept her face to the side and closed her eyes. She felt his breath on her neck and his hand tighten around it.

"Remember that." He growled, pushing himself away from her. He stalked off towards the elevator.

Robin slowly slid down the car, falling into a sitting position next to it. She stared out in front of her, her heart pounding. Finally, She whispered to herself. "What was that about?"

---

The day continued on as it normally would, even Amon was acting as if nothing had happened. But what _had _happened? He had threatened her, but it sounded more like a warning. Robin wondered why he had gotten so angry in the first place. She could barely focus on her work with all the thoughts and confusion of the last two days.

It wasn't long until Robin found that she was the only one left in the office besides Michael. "Where is everyone, is it time to go already?" She asked searching for the wall clock.

"Haruto and Ms. Karasuma left to scope out a witch before you arrived, Dojima still hasn't shown up, and Amon is out." Michael answered, not taking his eyes off his computers.

Robin scooted her chair closer towards Michael. "Do you believe in true love?" She asked.

Michael blushed. "Y-yeah." He spoke nervously, turning to face her. "Why do you ask?"

"Amon said that he doesn't." Michael's face fell. "He laughed when I told him that I believed. But…he has Toko, does that mean he doesn't love her?"

"Probably." Michael grumbled.

"That's sad. She loves him." She thought for a while, then added. "I wonder why he's like that."

"If you want to know, ask Toko about it." Michael jabbed at his keyboard. "How did you get on that subject with him anyway?"

"Do you know what a prostitute is?" Robin asked.

"Uh, yeah…" Michael replied, confused by the transition.

"Isn't that horrible?"

"Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Amon's neighbor is one." Robin whispered gravely.

Michael stared at her blankly, not following the conversation. "Why do you know that?" He finally asked.

"I spent last night at his place."

"What!" Unintentionally, Robin had just about given Michael a heart attack, obviously not understanding the meaning of what she said.

"Toko had him let me sleep over because the road was blocked." Robin explained, not understanding Michael's reaction.

"You know what that sounds like don't you?"

"No." Robin answered truthfully.

Michael half wondered if she could be that innocent. "It sounded like-ugh, never mind. Just, don't let your guard down around him like that."

"Why?" She asked, genuinely curious about the answer.

"It's, well…" Michael struggled for the right words. "Amon is a guy-who's a lot older and bigger than you- it's not safe for a girl like you to not be cautious."

"Do you mean that you think he would try to hurt me?" Robin asked, not understanding what Michael was trying to say. "You don't trust him?"

"That wasn't exactly what I meant. But he has before, so…" Michael sighed. "It's not like I don't trust him, but you should still be careful." Robin nodded slowly. She still had no clue as to what Michael meant. She scooted back to her workstation now with more confusing thoughts flying through her mind.

_Ding!_ The elevator opened and Amon rushed out. "Michael, see what surveillance you can get for this place." He ordered, handing Michael a sheet of paper. "Robin." Was all he said to the young hunter before heading back to the elevator. Robin followed as obedient as usual, even though she didn't know where they were going or who they were hunting. Maybe this was what Michael meant, that she would always do just as Amon said without second thought.

---

Robin had almost forgotten after all that had happened, the feeling had all but disappeared. But now, as she felt the anticipation of the hunt, she felt it again. The urge to burn. And now, not only did the heat around her hurt, but also the memory of wanting to use against Amon. This feeling terrified her, never before had it felt so intense. There was always an itch when preparing, now it felt like whatever inside of her that held the itching heat back was breaking. Robin decided to ignore it, she could not fail again.

"I'm going around back." Amon said, moving around the corner to the other side of a long mess of alleys.

"You should head straight ahead into that alley, Robin." Michael's voice directed through the earpiece. Robin followed the directions, cautiously trying to see everything at once as to not be snuck up on. "The witch should appear on your left, Robin."

Robin sidled against the left wall to it's corner. Peering around it, she saw who she assumed was the target. "Is this her?" She whispered, eyeing a girl that was reading what looked like a letter. Robin remembered this girl from when they had first hunted her a week ago.

"Yes, Amon is in position around the opposite corner." Michael answered. Robin's heart beat a little faster, the heat grew a little hotter.

"Wait for my signal." Amon's voice came through. As always he sounded calm and collected, whereas right now Robin was nervous and unsure of herself.

Robin stared through the alley, waiting for Amon's signal, when the witch screamed. At the sound, Robin jumped and let lose the fire. The witch saw the flames and turned to run in the opposite direction towards Amon.

Amon raised his gun, but instead of firing, he dropped it. "Ow, Robin!" He shouted. The witch grabbed the gun and aimed it at Amon.

Before the witch had time to shoot, Robin rushed over and set fire to the witch's hands. The witch screamed again and dropped the gun, this time Amon picked it up and shot her. The witch stumbled and fell to the ground.

The heat from the fire quickly found it's way back towards Robin, slipping into place to become flames again, now hotter than ever. Remembering how relieving it felt to release the heat, she did, this time setting the witch's chest aflame. It felt so good that she did it again, to the witch's legs.

"Robin that's enough!" Amon ordered. "Robin!" He repeated when she didn't listen, setting the witch's shoulders on fire. The witch now wriggled on the ground in pain as her body began to melt into ashes. Robin stood there staring at her, smiling. "What are you doing?" Amon shouted, shoving Robin into the wall next to her.

Robin shook her head, regaining her senses. She stared wide-eyed at the burning body in front of her. Slowly she moved her gaze to Amon, who stared back at her. His expression was similar to her own, worry, fear and anger.

"Guys, the witch!" Michael called, reminding them to try to save the burning girl.

Amon threw off his jacket and beat out the flames. "What the hell were you thinking!" Amon demanded as he checked to make sure the witch still had a pulse. "You're lucky she wasn't killed, first you burn the gun out of my hands and then this?"

"I didn't make you drop it!" Robin protested. She was shaking partly out of shock and partly out of effort to hold back the now more persistent heat.

"Unless this witch not only had her own powers but yours also, I don't think so." He growled.

"I swear I didn't do it!"

Amon held out his hands, his gloves were burnt off on his palms and fingers. "Explain this, then."

Robin took a step away from him. "I didn't do that."

"Robin." Amon took a hold of her wrist.

"Don't touch me! I said I didn't do it!" She yelled, kicking him in the shin. Amon released his grip and Robin ran off. By the time she reached Amon's car she realized that she didn't know where they were and wouldn't be able to find her way back home. Embarrassed, Robin waited for Amon to catch up and give her a ride back to the office.

When they returned, Robin was praised for not messing up the hunt again. It didn't feel like a victory. She felt like crap. She had almost killed the witch, was blamed for knocking the gun out of Amon's hands, and that annoying heat continued to pester her.

As Robin was getting ready to leave, it began raining again. And, as luck would have it, she ended up in the elevator with Amon. "Do you want a ride home today?" He asked.

"No." Robin refused to so much as look at him.

"You're going to get soaked."

"I don't mind." Robin said when they reached the bottom. She hopped on her scooter and drove out of her parking space. But with a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning, she found herself getting a ride home with him anyway.

---

Robin opened the door to the apartment slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Someone was there, she cautiously crept inside, and she knew who it was. Crouching down to take off her shoes, Robin caught a glimpse of the woman's brown hair swish around.

"Is that you Robin?" She asked, as if it would be anyone else. Though as Robin thought this, the image of Amon being the one at the door popped into her head. '_No, it's me, baby.' _he said. "_Oh, Amon!" _the woman would exclaim and hug him. Robin laughed, _like he would say something like that!_ "What's so funny?" Toko appeared in the entryway, hands on her hips.

"Nothing." Robin smiled to herself, getting on shoe off.

"You're home later than usual." Toko said. Robin wasn't sure if she was saying this just to point it out or if she meant it more like a scolding.

"We had a hunt towards the end of the day, it held us up a bit." Robin explained.

For some reason, Toko always wanted to know everything about the hunts so it was no surprise when she began questioning her. "Was it one for a witch from before or a new one? How did it go?"

"It was the girl from last week and we caught her." Robin stood up and headed for the bathroom.

"How did it go?" Toko pressed.

"Actually, I don't want to talk about it right now." She grimaced at the memory of the burning witch.

"Why, did something bad happen? Someone get hurt?"

"No, it's just that I don't feel like talking about it tonight." Robin hopped that slipping behind the bathroom door would help give Toko a hint. But, no, the woman followed after her.

"Is something wrong, are you sick?" Toko reached for Robin's forehead.

Robin ducked under her arm and out into the living room. "I'm a little tired I think. I'm going to go straight to sleep."

"Without any super?"

"I-I ate at Harry's." Robin hated lying and she knew that she was bad at it too. She even did the looking sideways and gulping thing.

Toko returned her hands to her hips. Robin wondered why Toko always did that, she thought it would look silly if she did it all the time and an image of herself waddling around with her hands on her hips came to her mind. "Now don't lie to me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night and all I want to do right now is go to bed." This was true, she didn't get much sleep and because of that, the heat, and the confusion, all she really wanted to do was sleep.

Toko blinked, she seemed to be in shock. "What did you say?" She asked.

"It's hard to fall asleep in places your not used to, so I'm tired." Robin repeated slowly, unsure what the cause was for Toko's reaction.

"Right…" Toko said softly, almost as if in a trance. "Are you sure your not sick? You look pale." She place her hand on Robin's forehead and quickly drew it away. "Whoa!" She looked at Robin incredulously. "Sit down, I'm going to get the thermometer."

Robin sat down slowly, putting her own hand on her forehead. She didn't feel sick. She _was _hot, but that was just because of the heat around her. Toko handed over the thermometer and Robin stuck it under her tongue. After the determined time, Toko took it out and read it aloud. "One o one point nine. That's no good."

"I feel fine." Robin insisted.

"If you still have a fever in the morning, you should stay home." Toko spoke rather quietly.

"But I-"

"You said you were tired, right? I think I'll go to bed early too." The older woman cut of Robin's protests. She made it sound as if she was sending her off to bed instead of doing so herself. Robin sighed and headed towards her room. But as she shut the door she heard Toko picking up the phone and dialing a number. Curious, she left the door open a crack and listened in.

After a long pause, waiting for the person to answer the phone, Toko spoke. "You don't have to be so snappy." She sounded irritated then her voice softened. "Is something wrong?" Silence. "And something happened? Robin wouldn't talk about it either."

_It must be Amon. _Robin thought. Before Toko spoke again she heard a muffled sound coming from the phone, he was yelling.

"I know." Toko almost whispered. "I know what father's plan is but how strange would that be if her own roommate didn't speak to her. Be reasonable. What's got you so worked up?"

_They're talking about me?_

"You sound strained." Toko said softly. "Please tell me what happened."

_Is he freaked by what I did to the witch?_

"Just treat her the way you do the others. She's no different from them just because you know her other side."

_My …other side? The others?_

"There are no 'what ifs'!" Toko shouted. "It is what it is, you have your job, you can't get distracted!" Robin could here the muffled sound of Amon yelling on the other line. "If you know what your supposed to do then why do you still think off 'what ifs'!" Silence. "Maybe it is wrong. But that would mean that everything you do and did is wrong." Soft and quiet again. "Then how can this be wrong?" After another pause. Then another. "Right. You should get some rest. Goodnight." She hung up the phone and turned towards the bathroom.

Robin stood pressed against the door. What had they been talking about? It had to do with her, a plan Zeizen had, her 'other side', treating like the 'others', a job that felt wrong…Then Robin remembered what happened that morning. _I want you to know that you can't trust me because if you give him and I the chance, you might just end up dead. _Amon's words repeated themselves in her mind. Did Zeizen order Amon to hurt her? That's what felt wrong? Is that why he didn't know ho to act around her? Robin took a step back, feeling confused. Thoughts flew through her mind. Toko knew about this, was she part of this 'plan'? Something about the hunt today brought this on. Amon had reacted to her losing control on the witch. _if you give us the chance…_ Was he supposed to hunt her if something like that happened? If she appeared dangerous? Unstable?

Robin stumbled backwards. Was Amon going to kill her? Who all was in on this? Was she dangerous? Was she unstable? "No…" She whispered, panic-stricken. What was she supposed to do? She glanced around the room and spotted her window. She could try to run away, down the fire escape. But would that make her seem more guilty? Could she contact Solomon? Or was HQ in on it too?

The heat around her swirled uncontrollably, taking advantage of Robin's distress in an attempt to become flames. She felt herself giving in to their demands, taking the heat inside of her. Why would Amon and Zeizen want to hunt her? What had she done to them? _Burn them. T_he heat spoke to her. _They deserve it, burn them. Burn them before they hurt you. Burn everyone! _

"No…Stop!" Robin shouted. She clutched her head. _Burn Them! Kill them! Do it, now! Burn Them!_ "Stop it! Stop!" She shook her head and stepped backwards into the wall._ They will kill you if you don't! Burn them! Burn! _"Robin slid to the floor, screaming. "Stop! No! I don't want to!" _Burn!_ "Shut up!" She screamed kicking out at nothing.

"Robin!" Toko exclaimed from her doorway. She ran to her side and grabbed her shoulders.

"Stop! Stop it!" Robin tried wriggling out of Toko's grasp but the older woman forced her against the floor.

"Robin! Robin!" Toko called, trying to calm her.

Robin struggled against her as the urge grew stronger in Toko's presence. _She's with them! She wants you dead! Burn her! _Robin screamed and smacked Toko across the face.

Ignoring the pain, Toko shook Robin fiercely. "Robin!" She continued calling.

Robin opened her wet eyes and stopped struggling. She lay there panting.

Slowly, Toko released her hold and helped Robin sit up. "A-are you alright?" She asked tentatively. Robin shook her head, pulling her legs against her chest. "It must be because of the fever, right?" Toko said as if to reassure herself.

"I think you're right, I think I am sick." She spoke in monotone. Her face looked pained and she spat. "I am _sick._" Toko helped Robin up and into bed. "I'm sorry." Robin whispered as Toko turned to leave the room.

"Don't be, it's all right." Toko smiled and left. How could she be so sincere when she wanted to hurt Robin? Or did she? Everything around Robin seemed fake and she wished that she hadn't eavesdropped. Ignorance is bliss they say. But now that she was no longer ignorant, all she wanted was to know more even though she knew that it would lead to more pain.

---

The next morning Robin woke up and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. As she reached up for a bowl of cereal, Toko ran up to her and took the box away. "Hey-!"

"What are you doing up?" She demanded.

"I want breakfast." Robin answered, reaching for the box in Toko's hands.

"In your condition? Go back to bed and I'll bring you breakfast." Toko ordered. Robin glared at her. "Go on." She repeated, shooing her with the box. Robin rolled her eyes and got back in bed. In a few minutes Toko followed in with a tray with a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice.

"Don't you have to go to work?" Robin asked, trying to hint that she wanted her to leave.

"I took the day off to stay with you." Toko smiled as if that were a good thing. "Oh, before you eat I should take your temperature again." She added as Robin raised her spoon to her mouth. She dropped it back into the bowl in annoyance.

After taking her temperature and seeing that it was higher than before Toko placed a cold washcloth on her forehead. "How am I supposed to eat with this on?" Robin asked. But before Toko could answer, there was a knock at the door which sent her running out of the room.

"Amon? What are you doing here?" Robin heard Toko say from the other room.

"I'm here to pick Robin up." He spoke in his cold indifferent voice.

"She's staying home today, she's sick."

Robin hurried out of her room. "I feel fine now!" She insisted. The last thing she wanted was to spend the day alone with Toko.

"You have a fever over a hundred and two, go back to bed!" Toko ordered without turning around.

"But-!"

"Bed! Now!" Toko pointed her off to her room. Robin grumbled as she shut the door behind her.

"Sick?" Amon inquired.

"Yes, she was delusional last night."

"I wasn't 'delusional'!" Robin called from her room, embarrassed.

"Delusional?" Amon smirked. "We can't have that, make sure to keep an eye on her." Somehow, even what he said sounded sinister to Robin. She couldn't believe that the words meant what they were supposed to. "Call me if she's well enough by tomorrow."

The two conspirators said their goodbyes and Toko returned to Robin's bedside, smiling as if nothing was wrong. "Can I at least go to church?" Robin asked.

"Why would you want to go when your sick? Anyway, now we get to have some girl time!" She added. Robin saw through the charade, she was a 'liability' and couldn't be let out of sight. Toko noticed that her ward glared at her. "Since when did you give such mutinous looks? It's almost like you've all of a sudden started to act your age."

Before Robin came up with an answer, another thought crossed her mind. "Toko, do you know why Amon is the way he is?"

"What do you mean by that?" Toko asked in surprise.

"Why is he so distant with everyone, I know it's not just me I see it with the other hunters and even a little with you, too."

"Oh, that." Toko's face fell. "I'm not sure if I completely know why either. He doesn't want to trust people."

"Do you know why that is?" Robin searched Toko's face for answers. She seemed like she was also searching for something.

"I don't think I should be telling you this…" She hesitated.

Robin lost herself in the wonder. Now the only thing that was important is finding out why. "But if you tell me, we can figure it out together! Don't you want to know him better and to move forward?" She played Toko into talking.

"All right, I'll tell you. But don't tell him that I told you." Robin nodded in agreement. "Amon grew up poor in the city…"

---

A four year old Amon ran into a small apartment room. "Mom! Mom, I'm home!" He called excitedly.

His mother bent down and picked the child up. "How was preschool today, Amon?"

Amon smiled hugely at the woman. "Great! Hiro-Kun made this paper airplane and it hit Kakeru-Sensei in the butt! Oh! But I have a question mom!"

"What is it honey?"

"Today we started to make projects for Father's Day and everyone seemed to know what that meant so I didn't ask, what does it mean?" Amon asked innocently. "Does everyone have one?"

"Yes everyone has a father."

"But what is it? And why are we making things for it?"

"A father isn't an it but a he, it takes a man and a woman to make a child, a mother and a father." She answered quietly.

"Then why haven't I seen my father?"

"Your father has another son and that son has a mother that isn't me. He lives with them."

"Why can't we all live together?"

"It's not that simple, Amon. Your father doesn't want to live with me and I don't want to live with the other mother."

"Oh…So what do I do in class?"

"How about you make your present for me?"

"Okay!"

---

Amon, now eight, leaves the elementary school building. He walks slowly, head down. Large shadows cover the path ahead. "Head up, bastard!" an older boy ordered. Amon looked up to see two kids four of five years older than him.

"What do you want?" Amon growled, trying to lower his voice to sound tougher.

"Why don't you get a haircut, you look like a girl!" One sneered.

"Maybe he's trying to look like a girl so he can whore himself out like his mother!" the second boy said.

"Shut up!" Amon shouted, swinging a fist at the second boy, knocking him to the ground. "Don't you dare talk about my mother!"

The first boy grabbed Amon around the collar. "Why defend her, bastard boy? What makes you think she ever wanted you?" He threw him to the ground.

The other boy returned to his feet saying. "I hear your mommy is sick now, what is it? Crabs?"

"Aaaahhhhhh!" Amon yelled jumping on him. He beat at the kid's face relentlessly. The first kid kicked him in the stomach, knocking him off of his friend. Amon rolled to his feet and ran, the boys at his heels.

Amon reached the jungle gym and climbed to the top. The boys circled him from below. "You can't stay up there forever!" Amon grinned and leapt off on top of one of the boys, twisting his head back and knocking him out.

"Oh my God! Did you kill him?" The other boy looked frightened and took a step back. Amon chased the boy into the sandbox. "You crazy bastard!" The boy shouted out of fear. He pulled out a pocket knife. "Your not going to get me!" He came at Amon with the knife. Amon sidestepped and threw sand into the boy's eyes. "Argh! Damn it!" He covered his eyes.

Amon stood there warily holding up his fists. He wasn't going to back down. This kid had insulted his mother, there was no going back.

The boy glared at Amon through his fingers. Suddenly he lunged blade out at Amon, cutting his cheek. In retaliation, Amon hit him in the gut. The boy took a step back, the wind knocked out of him. Amon stepped forward and punched him on the side of his head. Once, twice, but when he hit the third time, the boy cut up into his arm.

"Your crazy!" The boy shouted. "Bad blood, you've got bad blood! Crazy blood!" Amon watched him, holding his bleeding arm. "People like her shouldn't have children, stupid whore's son!"

Amon snapped. "Don't. Call. Her. That!" He screamed, grabbing the arm that held the knife, wrenching it away from him. "DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER THAT!" He slashed at the boy's face, who then fell to his knees. "SHE'S MY MOTHER!" He slashed at he boy's chest, moving on top of him. "DON'T YOU DARE!" He raised the blade high in the air and brought it down into the boy's chest.

Slowly Amon regained his senses. He stared at the boy, panting. He looked from the boy's face to the knife that he still held in his chest. Shakily he let go. He tried standing up and stumbled backward. He shook his head. "I didn't… I didn't do that." He chanted to himself.

As he calmed down more he saw that the blade was stabbed through the left side of the boy's chest. He checked the boy's pulse, it was beating. He checked to make sure he was still breathing, he was. He must have passed out because of pain or fear or something.

Amon stood up quickly and ran home, leaving the wounded boys unconscious on the playground.

As quiet as possible, Amon made his way into their apartment. He peered into his mother's room to find her bed empty. "Mom?" He whispered. From behind him he heard a footstep. He turned to see his mother limping towards him. "Mom? Are you feeling okay?" He asked. She looked a mess. Sweat poured down her face, her eyes were wide almost in fear. "Mom?" He repeated as she staggered towards him.

The lights in the room flickered and burst. The mother grabbed her son by the arm, squeezing it hard. "Ouch! Mom, that hurts!" The darkness enveloped them. Her grip became stronger and the stove and fridge crackled and blew out. "I'm sorry!" Amon shouted. "I didn't mean to hurt them!" The T.V. set blew out. "It's my fault!" Amon tried to repent.

A strange sensation shot through his body. He grew hot then cold, then hotter than before, than colder than before. The feeling grew until the heat and cold grew too intense to bear. Amon's feet gave way and the only thing that held him up was his mother's grip on his arm. His head spun and the next thing he knew the window was being blown open and two men crashed into the room. The door was knocked down and a woman ran into the room.

The strange intruders raised weird looking guns and shot at his mother. She staggered to the floor, dropping Amon. The hot and cold sensation disappeared instantly. He watched the strangers check his mother's pulse. "We got her." The woman said.

One of the men turned to Amon. "What about him?"

"He's a seed, we should just kill him now." The other man said.

"No." The first man stared at Amon with interest. He knelt down next to him. "What is your name?"

"Amon." He answered firmly. "You stopped the pain, how did you do that?"

"Do you want to know how to stop pain?" He asked. Amon nodded. "Then come and see me in two years, Raven's Flat, ask for Zeizen."

"Raven's Flat, Zeizen." Amon repeated. "But what happened to my mother?"

"She was causing you pain, because she wasn't a human."

"Not human?"

"Yes she was a demon, a witch. And witches always cause pain to us humans, for that they have to pay the price." Amon looked confused. "In time you will understand." Zeizen patted Amon's head.

---

After one year of living with his half brother and father, his father died. It was a strange death. An unsolved crime. His step mother had died two years before so he had no where to go. His brother Nagira was six years older than him and got a scholarship to a college, he didn't need to be taken care of, nor could he handle caring for a younger brother.

So Amon made his way to Raven's Flat to meet with Zeizen. "Your early." Zeizen commented. "I said to come in two years."

"I have nowhere to go." Amon said flatly.

"I know that, Your father has recently became a cold case, that is, to those who don't know the truth like us."

"Father was killed by a witch?" Amon asked…

---

"…And he came to live with us then. My father taught him how to be a hunter in the first four years he lived with us, he became fascinated with the idea of becoming a hunter and joined the STN-J at thirteen, hasn't changed a day since." Toko finished Amon's tale. "We've been together since we were nineteen but I feel like nothing ever changes. He's so weird about things, like one time I asked him why he sets his alarm clock an hour late and all he said was 'I'm sorry'."

"I asked him the same thing! But he just glared at me…"

Toko stared into Robin's eyes. She seemed very serious. "Robin, I need your help. I don't know what to do."

Robin hesitated. "You want to ask me for help?" Toko nodded. "You love him right? And he knows it?" Again Toko nodded silently. It was strange, why was she asking her for help, what did she know about a relationship? "From what you've told me and from what I've seen, I think that Amon doesn't know how to love. The only person he could say that he loved turned on him. Of course that was just her being controlled by her power…" Robin froze. Controlled by her power…She shook her head, it wasn't the same thing. She was simply overusing her power, that was all.

"How would I get him to know how to love?" Toko asked.

"Maybe you need to give him some space, if he does love you he realize it when your not together as much and you can go from there. But if he stays the same then maybe your not right for each other." Robin recited these lines from a romance novel she read a while back.

"That…actually sounds like a good idea." Toko whispered, sounding relieved. "That's a really good idea!"

"Uh, okay." Robin didn't know what to say. For all that had happened, she wanted to be mad at Toko, but she could help giving her advice. And with this new development, she couldn't focus on anything else…what had changed Amon so drastically, it couldn't have simply been what happened with his mother. Or in the time with his father and brother, they most likely knew nothing about witches. It had to be Zeizen. Why was he so interested in Amon from the start?

The rest of the day was spent chatting about 'girl stuff' (Robin merely listened and nodded at Toko's ramblings.), and watching cheesy romance movies (Toko cried at the end of every one of them.). All in all, Robin would have rather spent the day at work then here. She was looking forward to a hunt to get rid of the discomforting heat around her. At least, Toko had become convinced that Robin was healthy so that the next morning Robin woke to find that she had already left for work.

Robin fixed herself breakfast and ate, dressed, then waited for Amon to come pick her up. She decided to try and act normal around him, but to do as Michael said and keep her guard up. Also, she wanted to know what Zeizen had taught him, she had been able to worm information out of Toko but getting information from Amon would be much harder. She was willing to take that challenge. If she could find out what changed him, maybe she could talk him out of doing whatever it was Zeizen ordered him to do to her.

She glanced at the clock, Amon was late. "Stupid." Robin muttered, remembering that he said to call if she felt better. She scrambled for her phone and dialed.

"What?" Amon's voice came after a few rings.

"Are you at work yet?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, what do you want?" He snapped.

"I forgot to call earlier, I need a ride, sorry."

"Alright, I'm coming." He sighed.

Not too long later, there was a knock at the door. "Coming!" Robin called, hurrying to the door. She opened it and bent down for her shoes.

"Couldn't you have been ready before I got here?" Amon said coldly. Robin ignored him. After putting on her shoes she turned back towards her room. "Where are you going now?" He asked impatiently.

"I forgot my glasses!" Robin shuffled through her things. "If I could remember…" She trailed off. From behind her she heard Amon coming into the room. "Found them!" She turned towards him, smiling. Amon's expression immediately changed from it's usual cold glare to surprise, he looked completely off guard.

Quickly Amon looked away from her. "Let's just go." He muttered and swept out of the room. Robin followed curiously.

"Hey Amon, who trained you in as a hunter?"

"Zeizen, why?" He answered sounding bored.

"I thought he was to high up to do that."

"He taught me when he was the lead hunter."

"Since you're the new lead hunter, does that mean that your going to take his place when he retires?" Robin asked.

"Yes."

"That must be a reassuring thing for him." Robin mused, putting the puzzle pieces together. "He trained you in so that when he goes he still knows that things will be the way he wants them."

Amon froze mid step. "I suppose." He muttered, narrowing his eyes. Quickly, he recovered and continued to his car.

"How did you become a hunter? For me, people came to me because of my craft, but what happens with those who don't own one?" Robin noted Amon's reaction.

"I was attacked by a witch, and he saved me. He took me in, I owe him my life…" the last sentence he spoke slowly, as if trying to understand the words coming out of his mouth. His eyes narrowed again and his face firmed.

"Did you know the witch?" Robin asked, knowing the truth.

"Would you just…!" Amon growled. "What would that matter? Quit asking me questions!" He snapped.

"So it was someone you knew?" Robin asked quietly.

"God!" Amon shouted. "Your so f-fucking annoying!" His voice shook when he spoke. "C-can't you learn to shut up! To learn your place?!"

Robin jumped at his outburst, she knew that this was going to be a raw subject but this reaction was more intense then she thought. She decided to stay quiet. If he was still so touchy about his mother then he must have some regret over trying to hate her for being a witch. Something felt wrong…

Watching the road, Robin noticed something different. "Where are we going?" She asked. "Do we have a crime scene to go to or something?"

Amon whipped his head to face her, he looked so pained. His face showed fear, regret, anger, surprise, it was shocking. Robin had never seen someone look so confused. Then fear spread throughout her body. _He's taking me somewhere to get rid of me!_ The thought came to her at the sight. He had; fear, of what he was going to do. Regret, He knew it wasn't right…but he owed Zeizen his life. Anger; why did he have these feelings? This should be simple! Surprise, she noticed something was wrong, what was he supposed to do could he handle this?

"Amon?" Robin asked slowly. He continued to stare at her with such pain.

Amon shut his eyes. "You feel this way because of her." He mumbled to himself. "All they do is cause pain." It was barley audible.

The sight from the corner of her eye brought her back to reality. "Amon, eyes on the road!" She shouted.

The car swerved and Amon braked quickly to stop the car, narrowly missing another. "Damn." The guy in the other car jumped out and ran up to theirs, banging on the window. Slowly and shakily Amon got out of the car. Robin could hear the man shouting at him. "What the hell are you doing! You almost hit me! You know how much that car cost me?!"

"I'm sorry sir, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have." Amon said flatly, as if he didn't really care.

"Damn right! I've got my kids in there!"

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't hit you then." Amon continued to speak with a nonchalant attitude.

"What's your problem?! This isn't a game!" The man grabbed Amon by the shirt and pushed him against the car. Robin narrowed her eyes, why was Amon letting himself get pushed around?

She heard Amon speak again. "Sir, would you please let go? I have to get myself and my coworker here to work." But the man would not be brushed off like that and for a second Robin was tempted to burn the guy for his attitude, it wasn't as if Amon had hit him. But burning some guy like that would just dig her a deeper hole. And it would be wrong, that too.

Amon grabbed the man's hand that held him against the car. "Unless you want to be embarrassed in front of your children, I'd let go of me." He growled.

"Oh? You think your so-" Amon twisted the man's hand back, snapping it. "What the hell?"

"I suggest you head back to your family." He had such a cold, almost evil sounding ring to his voice.

But this man wouldn't waver. For some reason he didn't get that the man in front of him was itching for a fight. "You better let go of me, I used to run a dojo."

Amon smirked. He twisted the man's arm around behind his back and forced him face first into the car. He push the man's face into the roof of the car. "Actually, I think I could have you arrested for assaulting an officer. I'm not sure, I may not actually qualify." He spoke softly. The man sputtered and tried to wrench himself free. Amon continued twisting his arm, Robin heard a few more cracks and the man cry out in pain. She knew that he was angry and confused, but he shouldn't take it out on some guy.

Robin leapt out of the car. "Amon!" She yelled. Amon looked up at her, not letting go of the man. "Stop it." She said firmly. "Let him go." Amon looked ticked as he pushed the man away from him and retreated back into the vehicle. "Sorry about this, it was my fault for distracting the driver." She apologized to the man and sat back into her seat. "It's no big deal," She said to Amon reassuringly. "I wanted to burn him too."

Amon smiled. "Sorry for dazing out, I just took a wrong turn."

_---_

Two days later, Robin was whishing she did burn that guy. There were few hunts and she wasn't sent on a single one. All she wanted was one little hunt so that she could get rid of the heat, just one. She was surprised, even when she asked to go with, she was denied. What was also shocking was that she still had a fever. Robin had concluded that the fever was linked to the heat. Once she rids herself of the heat, the fever would go away.

Still halfway through the third day, she found herself bored. And no hunts. The office was empty except for Michael again. Amon had been avoiding spending much time at the office recently, so he was off looking for leads. Karasuma took the day off. Sakaki was hanging out at Harry's, and Dojima hadn't arrived yet.

Michael was rambling about a computer program that he hacked, thinking that Robin was listening. He thought that probably because she was staring at him, even though she was wondering why he thought mullets were cool. It was fun watching his mullet. The most entertaining thing in days.

Robin was hot. The heat seemed so much worse now that she wasn't doing anything. Every once and a while she would work on figuring out Amon's past. Every once and a while she'd wonder why Zeizen wanted her to be hunted. It didn't help.

Then, an idea struck her. To get rid of the heat, why didn't she burn something small like paper? She slipped some paper into her pocket. "Excuse me." She said politely to Michael and headed to the bathroom. Robin didn't want anyone to see, they might get the wrong idea.

The feeling was wonderful, getting rid of that heat was like having a great weight lifted off of her shoulders. She wondered why she didn't think of this in the first place. She liked it so much that she found herself doing it again the next day, and the day after. It became a habit but soon, Burning only paper became boring. She needed something new to burn.

It was a new week and it rained for the first time since the night she spent the night at Amon's place. Robin sighed as she stared out at the rain. Today was the day that she planned to run some errands. It didn't look like that was going to happen.

"You can do your errands tomorrow, right? Don't look so depressed." Michael said. They were the only two that spent full days at the office in this slump and they spent most of the time chatting about different things.

"I know. I don't like the rain though." Robin kept her eyes on the rain.

"Why? I find it calming."

"I wonder if Amon likes the rain." Robin thought aloud.

Michael sighed. "You're still on that? Sheesh, if I didn't know better I'd say you have a crush on him."

Robin blushed. "I do not!"

"Do not what?" Amon's voice came from behind them. "Robin, do you want a ride tonight?"

"Oh, yes, but would you mind if we stopped by the store on the way?" Robin asked, gathering her things.

"_Fine by me."_

_When they stopped at the store, Amon decided to wait in the car. "I'll be quick." Robin promised._

_In the store she grabbed the things she needed, but before checking out she spotted something. It looked unappealing in every way except for the thought that it would be fun to burn. Something fun to try out. _

_As she left the store, she tuck a pack of cigarettes into the inside pocket of her coat, Exited to burn something new._


	4. Feels Good

**Chapter Four:**

**Feels Good**

Preparing for another slow and boring day at the office, Robin picked up a book from her shelf. She was excited about this book, the newest installment from her favorite author. That excitement paled in comparison to the thought of burning something new.

"I'm ready to go now." Robin said, walking into the living room where Amon waited on the couch. "Amon?" She repeated when she didn't receive an answer or see him move. Leaning over the back of the couch, Robin saw that Amon had fallen asleep.

Even in his sleep Amon looked pained. He still looked as if he was fighting himself. Robin hated seeing him look this way, it was only a week or so before when his expression was one of someone cool, calm and confident. _He must be very tired, _Robin thought. _to fall asleep sitting up._ Mentally tired from all the thoughts that must be flying throughout his head right now, Robin felt it too. Wondering the why's the what's of everything going on in secret left her tired as well. She didn't want to wake him, she knew how he felt.

"…All they do…Pain…" Amon mumbled in his sleep. Curious, Robin listened closer. "True power…cause pain…round them…" It sounded like what he had said before, when they had almost hit that guy the other day, '_all they do is cause pain' 'you feel this way because of her'_.

Robin leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Who's true power?"

"A witches' power…" Amon mumbled in response.

Robin grimaced, she knew this was wrong but she needed to know. "What is a witches' power?"

"Witches cause pain to those around them…know a witch you will have pain." Amon curled up and lay on his side.

"Why?"

"Witches purpose…Zeizen said"

"What did Zeizen say?"

"Hunt Robin…spy…give pain…witch…" Amon's face grew more pained. "Robin…"

"Are you going to do what Zeizen says?" Robin asked fearfully.

"Pain because Robin…witch…Robin…"Even in his sleep his voice shook with emotion. His hand gripped the couch. "M-mom…"

"Do you love your mother?"

"fault…mom…f-fault mine…mom" a tear ran down his cheek and he began to speak rapidly. "Robin…Robin leave mom should ruwaherm…" his mutterings became incoherent.

This was good, she had found what she needed. Just a little more working and she would be there. Robin reached down and lightly shook Amon's shoulder. "Amon, wake up."

"Hmm?" Amon sat up slowly, glancing around.

"You fell asleep." Robin explained. Amon lifted his hand to his face and wiped away the stray tear. He looked from his hand to Robin, giving each confused looks. "You should try to get some sleep."

"Yeah, I know." Amon said quietly, staring down at his hand. He closed his hand into a fist and pushed himself up off the couch a little too forcefully with it. Robin followed him out.

"Hey, Amon?" Robin started as they left the building.

"Going to start interrogating me again?" Amon asked with a smirk. "Found something else about me that you need to see in to?"

"A-,uh…" Robin stuttered in shock, did he know that she knew?

"Yeah, I know that you've been prying into my business. You're pretty obvious." Amon turned to face her. "I don't care, do what you want because who knows what I could be digging up about you."

"Tricky…" Robin muttered. "But I don't have anything to hide."

"That's what _you _think." Amon said, almost in a whisper.

"What does _that_ mean?"

Amon shrugged. "Weren't you going to ask me something?"

Robin nodded, understanding. They were both walking on thin ice, trying to get as much information as possible on the other. Amon was calling a challenge, with the few things he said he had explained to her that he did know that she knew about his mission. "I was going to ask why you haven't been at the office."

"I'm avoiding Zeizen." Amon answered, turning back to the car.

"Why? Are you in trouble because of your hesitating?"

" 'She has given you plenty of opportunities, why haven't you done anything yet?'" Amon quoted dryly. "That's what he keeps telling me, but I won't until I have found a reason. It shouldn't take too long." It looked to Robin as if he had expected her question, too bad, she had hoped to catch him off guard. "My turn, why do you think you can beat me?"

Robin blinked, then answered calmly. "This is a matter of self preservation, I have no choice." Amon nodded to himself, weighing her answer. "What is it that you're after exactly, proof that I'm a witch?"

"I already know you are a witch. I want proof that you are a dangerous one."

"But aren't all witches dangerous, they were put on this earth simply to give pain to those around them." Robin saw Amon flinch at the words. "Isn't that what Zeizen told you?" She feigned an innocent look. "But wouldn't that mean that you were also put on this earth to cause pain?"

Amon knew he was going to regret asking, but did so anyway. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you mother was a witch, right?" She smiled slyly as Amon gripped the steering wheel harder.

"Toko." Amon whispered hatefully.

"That's right, Toko. She confided in me how she wishes she could get you to love her, when we both know that that won't happen."

"Don't try to make me feel guilty. I could never-"

"Why? What's wrong with Toko?" Robin demanded angrily. So Toko could be annoying at times, she still wasn't going to let Amon off the hook without an explanation. "She's pretty, kind, smart and…"

"I know."

"Then what's wrong?"

"She's like a sister to me." Amon said bluntly.

"Oh." Now she felt dumb. "Like a sister…"

Amon cleared his throat awkwardly. "The rainy season is ending, so I won't be seeing you so much anymore." Before Robin could say anything in response, Amon continued. "I'm not going to come back to the office."

Robin watched as he drove away. "I'll see you on the hunt." She whispered to herself.

---

Robin liked the idea of a challenge and this thing with Amon would be no different. This challenge wasn't just any old challenge either, this was life and death and yet somehow that wasn't what worried her, if she won this challenge Amon would return to his normal self. She would have Amon back, the thought made her smile. Cool and confident Amon, Robin wasn't going to let herself lose.

"I wonder what Amon's doing right now." Robin thought aloud.

Michael sighed loudly. "Probably what he said he's doing, looking for leads on some hunts."

"Maybe on one hunt in particular…" Robin muttered.

Michael's phone rang. "Speak of the devil…" He answered it. "Amon?…Yeah, send Robin and Dojima, but miss Dojima isn't here right now."

As the words came out of his mouth, Dojima bounced in. "Morning Guys!"

"Never mind she's here." Michael began writing down an address. "Got it." He turned to the two girls. "Amon has a hunt for you."

"Aww man!" Dojima sighed. Their expressions couldn't be more different, with Robin looking as if Christmas had come early that year and Dojima looking as if she had to go get a filling. Robin grabbed Dojima's arm and hurried her to the elevator. "I'm not even going to bother asking why you look so happy." Dojima said, rolling her eyes as Robin practically jumped in excitement.

They arrived at the designated place; a warehouse on the edge of town. "Why is it that these things always take place in places like this?" Dojima muttered in disgust.

"Dojima! With that big mouth of yours, you'll scare the witch away!" Michael commented.

"Witches aren't deer's, Michael." Dojima replied.

"Are we going to do this or not, guys? Focus!" Robin snapped, though she still wore an excited expression. "Let's do this."

That was probably the most words Dojima had ever heard her say. "Y-yeah." She nodded, shocked at her tone.

Swift and silent, the two moved into position inside the warehouse. Flanking on either side of a small hallway they stood in wait. "Michael?" Robin whispered. "Is Amon or someone going to send the witch this way?"

"Oh. Crap. I'll send someone over." Michael said.

"No need, I hear him coming." Robin closed her eyes and focused on the spot where she heard the footsteps and sent out the fire.

"What the-?" The witch exclaimed. The footsteps came closer. The man ran out of the hall, passed the two hunters. He froze and turned at the sight. Robin blocked his exits with the flame. The witch whipped his head around in shock. Before he could begin protesting and asking why, Dojima shot him down.

"That was quick." Michael's voice broke the silence.

Robin looked up from the unconscious body, smiling. "We did good!" She gave Dojima a thumbs up. The blonde meekly returned the gesture.

---

Robin sighed with content, she had made a good choice yesterday, burning the cigarettes was fun compared to the little bits of paper that she used of late. It wasn't like she was actually smoking them or anything, though, _that _would be bad for her health. As she watched the smoke drift upwards out of the bathroom stall she thought that she needed a better place to do this. She didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, but then again, what would be the right idea?

She tried to shake off the feeling but as she took a look at herself, she felt stupid and childish. What was she doing?

Digging herself a hole, that's what. A hole that would form out of this becoming a habit, if that happened wouldn't she be giving Amon his reason to hunt her?

Exactly. If Amon saw this he would think she was losing control of her powers. And he would be right, how could she deny that when she was sneaking around burning whatever she could find.

The realization made her feel sick. Then another thought came, if she ended up having to use her powers doing this would be fine. Doing this didn't hurt anyone, so it couldn't be that bad.

Nodding to agree with herself, Robin grabbed the small box and returned it to an inside coat pocket. As she made her way to the door, Dojima entered. Robin directed her gaze to the floor in embarrassment, surely Dojima would notice the smoke drifting around at the ceiling.

As if on cue, she glanced up, frowned, then sent Robin a confused look. Robin hurried out and decided that today would be a good day to take off early.

--

The next day Robin found that it was a good idea to avoid burning anything. She noticed her fellow hunters casting her strange looks throughout the day, Dojima must have told the others what she saw. Robin couldn't blame her, she would have done the same thing if it was the other way around. What did bother her was that no one said anything. They just glanced at her warily and whispered among themselves. Nobody said more than two words to her the whole day.

Going home, Robin thought she'd get away from it. Maybe hoped was a better word. Not too long after she arrived, Toko came home. Hoping that she hadn't caught word, Robin offered to make dinner. "What would you like?" She asked politely.

"Anything's fine." Toko answer crisply. Robin gulped and started to make 'anything'. Toko had heard, she was certain. Robin would have much rather preferred her coworker's silence over having Toko give a 'talk', and there was no doubt that Toko would speak. The older woman stood by the table, waiting.

Robin sighed. "So how was your day?" She had to start, or things would just get worse.

"Well," Toko started, sending a shiver down Robin's spine. "I heard some very interesting news from Amon today, quite frankly when I saw that he had called I thought it would be about getting together for a date or something."

"About that-" Robin started.

"Don't change the subject." Toko snapped before continuing. "He called about you." The pause between sentences somehow made Robin fear the woman more than any witch. "Apparently, someone thought they saw you possibly doing something…" _Just spit it out, say it already._ Robin chanted silently, not wanting her to drag this out any further. "Smoking." Toko added when Robin didn't inquire. Still, Robin chose to stay silent for a little longer. "I want you to tell me if this is true or not, and don't lie."

"I promise you that I haven't ever even thought about doing that in my life." Toko eyed her suspiciously. "I swear, it's not what you think. I'm not lying." Robin added truthfully.

Toko sighed. "All right, I believe you. Sorry that I doubted you."

"It's okay." Robin said quietly. She finished making super in silence, understanding the term 'slaving over a hot oven'. Cooking, she had found, was not her strong point. The heat from the stove didn't really bother her now that she was used to being hot, it was the fact that it reminded her that she might be losing it.

"So…" Toko awkwardly tried to start up a conversation when supper was ready. "Anything new with you?"

"No." Robin watched her face fall upon hearing this. "How about you?" She added feeling that she was obliged to.

"Nothing! We're two peas in a pod like that I suppose." This surprised Robin, Toko just about always had something to say. "Since Amon and I are 'taking a break' there truly is nothing going on, I hope this idea of yours works."

Robin shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah…" She wanted to tell her that it was never going to work out Amon. "What if I told you-if I told you that…" But somehow it wouldn't come out and she began to speak louder and louder with the effort. Toko stared at the girl with curiosity. By now Robin was shouting. "WHAT IF I SAID HE WAS GAY!"

Toko blinked in surprise, dropping her fork.

_What did I just say?! _Robin thought wildly. Her face flushed in embarrassment. Wide eyed, she stared down at her plate. "Uh, ah, I mean-"

Toko burst out laughing. "What?" She managed to gasp out. "What are you going on about?"

"I-I'm just saying…that's not what I meant! He's not gay-I think-it's just I…" Robin desperately tried to take it back.

"Toko took in a breath of air to silence her laughter. "All right, what are you trying to say?"

"I meant that if he doesn't want to be with you, you'll have to move on." Robin hoped that this would be a good enough hint.

"I know." Toko nodded. "But all seriousness aside, why did you say that he was gay?"

"I have no clue how that came out of my mouth." Robin insisted. For the rest of the night they continued to crack 'gay Amon' jokes, many times Toko mentioned something called 'yaoi', Robin decided that it would be better not to ask what that was. And it was fun, it felt really good to simply joke and laugh the night away.

---

First thing the next morning Robin was sent off on a hunt with Sakaki and Karasuma. As before, Amon had given them the tip and never showed. And as before, Robin preformed they way she was supposed to, capturing the witch. This time though, it wasn't as easy and she again felt the stress of the heat, probably because she didn't burn anything yesterday.

The three of them waited in the elevator, Robin now with the resolve to burn again. "Where do you think Mr. Amon is?" Sakaki inquired. " I mean, usually he's barely here but now he's not here at all."

"I was wondering that myself. Robin, do you know anything?" Karasuma asked.

"Maybe he's avoiding someone." The young hunter said softly.

"Is he really the type to hold a grudge?" Sakaki wondered aloud. _You have no idea. _Robin thought, Amon had a few long held grudges affecting him every single day.

The doors slowly opened and Robin heard Dojima speaking. "…Well maybe she's lying, I know what I saw!" She was leaning over her chair, speaking to Michael. When she caught glimpse of Robin, her eyes widened. Of course she was talking about Robin, of course she thought that she had lied.

Robin avoided Dojima's gaze and rushed away to the restroom. She heard Dojima following after her, there was nowhere to run once she reached the restroom. Dojima grabbed Robin's wrist. "Hey!"

"What?" Robin imitated Amon's famous glare.

"You know what, I want to know what's going on."

Robin wormed her way out of Dojima's grasp. "Nothing. Nothing's going on." She said irritably, trying to get past her and out.

"You can tell me, I'm your friend."

"Apparently not, I was under the impression that friends didn't spread rumors about each other."

"Robin." Dojima pleaded. "You know I'm only trying to help."

All of a sudden in her anger, she felt her self pulling the heat in. She didn't mean to do it but now that she had, she needed to get it out. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt Dojima, she needed to get out of there fast. "Who ever said that I wanted help!" Robin spoke with new determination, if she couldn't make it past Dojima she would have to talk her down. It was time to break out the big guns. It was time to throw a tantrum. _God, forgive me for this._ "Why the hell do you think I need anybody's help?! I'm old enough to make my own decisions, just because you still can't grow up doesn't mean that I haven't!"

Dojima stared blankly at Robin, surprise evident on her face. "What are you talking about?" She gaped.

Robin managed to get some tears out. "I hate it! I absolutely hate it when people treat me like a kid!" She even added in a foot stomp.

"Robin…" Dojima started warily.

"I hate it I hate it I HATE IT!" She screamed.

Dojima glanced around in embarrassment for her friend. "Robin look at yourself!" She started forward. Robin took this moment to run, she quickly sped around Dojima and out.

"What's with all the yelling?" Sakaki asked lazily from his desk when Robin ran into the room. There wasn't time to answer, Robin darted for the stairs, no time for an elevator. She stumbled a few times on her way down until finally she reach the bottom.

"Where's the fire?" The gatekeeper asked, Robin again ran past and ignored the question. But now that she was out, where would she go? She didn't stop to think about it, she kept running and running until for a second she forgot why.

She felt like she was going to burst. She needed to stop, but where could she hide? What was she even hiding from? It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. All she needed to do was burn.

Robin leapt into some bushes and crouched down low so that the top her head just barely stuck out. Frantically, she whipped out the small box. Her hands shook and dropped the cigarettes on the ground. She closed her eyes and when she reopened them she saw her flame slash like a blade at the little objects.

Real tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched them burn. "It's not like I needed to." She whispered to herself. "I didn't have to burn, _I'm_ choosing to." Robin lied to herself to feel better. "It's okay as long as I feel good." She didn't know how long she had sat there crying when she heard footsteps behind her.

Someone brushed the bushes away. Robin looked up to see Amon staring down at her. "Robin." He reached down and began lifting her up by the armpit.

"Let go." She broke free and fell face first into the ground. Silently he reached down again and wrapped his arms around her waist to lift her up. "Don't!" Robin continued trying to fight him until suddenly his arms went limp. She looked up at his face and followed his wide eyes to some of the still burning cigarettes. He must have thought the truth, that she had been burning them. "It's not what you think, I swear!" She insisted. One of the flames grew and reached part of the bush, sending the bush aflame. Robin stumbled backwards into Amon.

The sight of the fire growing uncontrollably reflected in her eyes. Fear shot through her, this wasn't supposed to happen, it was her who controlled the flames they were not supposed to move on their own. The sight froze Robin, time seemed to slow down. She opened her mouth in surprise but nothing came out.

A strange cool feeling licked around Robin and caused her to take her eyes off the fire. It had spread and now it crawled up her jacket. She screamed and latched onto Amon. "It's going to get me!" Robin shouted. "Get off! Amon get it off of me!"

Amon managed to pull her out of the burning bush. "Robin let go." He pushed her away so that he could bat the fire out. Before he had the chance to do anything more, Robin grabbed hold of him again.

"It's cold Amon!" She cried, pulling at his shirt. "Why is it cold?"

Holding Robin by the shoulders, Amon continued trying to push her away when he realized something, if things kept on as they were they would both be set on fire. Now he really had to get her off of him. To put more force in the next push he took a step forward, coincidentally, at the same time Robin bent lower and wrapped her arms around his middle. So instead of getting the result he wanted, his hands slipped over her shoulders adding to the momentum of taking a step and fell on top of her. The upside, he saw, was that the flames had been crushed in the impact.

Amon rubbed his forehead and sat up. Robin still clung to him, willing him to forget what he knew. Willing him to protect her from himself. He couldn't actually consider her dangerous if she wasn't hurting anyone. Nobody was harmed. She would be okay.

For Amon it was a different story. One that Robin refused to accept. He was planning out a scenario for her death.

---

Robin knew that this would be horribly embarrassing. She had thrown a tantrum and ran away in front of everyone and now Amon was driving her back there. He hadn't said anything, he wouldn't and she didn't expect him to. She felt as if she had been broken, like a child's toy. Her spirit seemed to have disappeared in a puff of smoke. What Robin didn't realize was that something inside her _did_ break, something that held her powers and sanity in check.

When the car stopped, Robin didn't move. For a moment she thought of running again, that is until Amon yanked her out of her seat and lead her up.

All was silent as they entered the room. The group stood there as if they had known that they were coming. Amon pulled her in front of him, removed the box from her inside coat pocket and threw it on a nearby table. He released her and leaned back against the wall. Robin took in their reactions for a second before rolling her eyes and staring at the ground. Karasuma had given her a disciplining glare, Sakaki was shocked, Dojima looked disappointed, and Michael…where was he?

It was funny to her. These guys had no idea what she was going through and what was really going on. To them, something as insignificant as a co-worker smoking underage was the end of the line. Robin only wished that were the case.

She vaguely heard Karasuma say something. From behind, Amon grabbed her arm and led her into the conference room. He pushed her into a seat across from Karasuma. Again Karasuma started to speak but few words felt recognizable to Robin. "Are you even listening to me?" The older woman finally asked.

Robin looked her straight in the face and said. "No."

"Don't you realize how serious this is?" Karasuma was pissed, probably because she wasn't used to dealing with anyone with an attitude. Also the fact that the person she was speaking to never before acted this way.

"You have no idea." Robin laughed. It was so damn funny that nobody realized that the person right next to them had plans to kill her.

"What could you possibly be laughing at?" Karasuma demanded, glancing to Amon for help. None came.

"Why don't you ask him." Robin nodded towards Amon. "He knows. I bet he's laughing about it on the inside too." She felt so weak. All she wanted was for things to be normal again, even though she knew it could never be that way. All she wanted was to believe that everything was fine, even though she couldn't. "So what, everyone turns and blames me for everything? Why should I be the one in trouble, when he's done much worse?!" She felt herself getting angry at herself for not believing her own lies. It was as if she was falling and all she could do was this…this nothing. "What do you know? What do you know about me, or what's going on?" She slammed her hands down on the table. "You'll never know! He sure as hell won't tell you!"

Karasuma's eyes were wide in shock and confusion at her outburst. "Robin, what are you-"

"And I'm not going to try to explain because no one would believe me!" Tears started to stream done her face. "You think that you know what's going on, but that's not what any of this is about! And you'll all be sorry when you've found me dead somewhere!"

"That sounds like a suicide threat." Karasuma couldn't possibly be more confused.

"Well maybe it is! It would make one fu-damn good alibi!" She stood to leave and found Amon's hand on her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" Karasuma asked, standing also.

"I'm going home!" Robin shouted, knocking Amon's hand away. "Is there something wrong with that?!" She glared at Amon.

"I think you need to stay here and calm down." Karasuma tried to keep her own voice level.

"So keeping me locked in here is supposed to make me 'feel better'?" She turned and threw open the door.

"Robin get back he-"

"NO! I'M GOING HOME!" She slammed the door on them and ran out.

This time no one followed her. When she got home she went straight to bed to avoid the all-knowing Toko from coming home thinking she could console her. Now that she was alone, she couldn't have felt more stupid. But as she sought a reason as to why she felt that way, Robin couldn't find the answer.

---

"Robin." She turned at the sound of her name. Amon waved her forward and turned to leave. As always Robin followed. It had been a few days and things had returned to a false sense of normalcy.

He drove her down to an abandoned boathouse. He hadn't said anything the whole time, Robin wasn't surprised, Amon hadn't spoken to her since he found her in the bushes. When the car stopped, she went to put her earpiece in. "Leave that in the car." Amon ordered.

Robin froze. Slowly she did as she was told. She didn't need to ask if they had cameras in the area. Even so, she followed him into the building.

Amon took out a gun. It wasn't the type he usually carried on hunts. It wouldn't shoot paralyzing orbo bullets. He loaded it with strange looking bullets, though still ones that Robin knew were meant for killing. Amon finished and pointed it at her.

No words needed to be said. Robin wasn't about to plead for her life. She would fight.

Even though he knew it wouldn't be that easy, Amon fired of a bullet. Robin moved to avoid it and sent her fire out to block it. The bullet fazed through the flames like they weren't there, it was a good thing that she moved far enough away to dodge a direct hit.

Robin knew that he was the one with the advantage. She couldn't hit him with her powers, she couldn't deflect him with her powers, and if it came to physical strength Robin could do nothing against him. The only thing that she could do was to take away the gun and orbo, it was the only way to survive.

She glanced around and caught sight of a knife used probably for gutting fish. Her experience in knife throwing was…well she had none, but she grabbed the thing anyway. Amon seemed amused by this. He started towards her thinking that she had no chance. Robin threw the knife at the hand that held the gun, missing terribly. The attempt was pretty pathetic it would have been smarter to hold on to it.

Now as he neared her, Robin kicked out a broken leg from a table a pushed it forward. The table took Amon by surprise, but he still managed to dodger it and grabbed a hold of Robin's shoulder. He wanted to get this over with as fast as possible, his plan was to hold her down and finish her off.

Amon pushed her back against the wall but as he held the gun the her head Robin kicked him in his groin. Man's biggest weakness. From the impact, to Robin's surprise, he dropped the gun and doubled over. Quickly, Robin took the gun and ran around behind him and out of his reach.

He raised himself back to full height and turned to see Robin pointing the gun at him. She fired and Amon dodged it easily. As he dodged it though she fired another, still missing him but hitting the orbo that swung away from his body from the movement. The vile broke and green liquid spilled to the floor.

Robin smiled, knowing that she had saved herself. _Burn him! _The heat of the moment seemed to say. _He tried to kill you, he'd do it again, he deserves it!_ And all of a sudden the flames shot out on their own. Amon closed his eyes to brace him self for the impact. There was none. He opened them to a strange sight.

A melting wall of ice stood before him. Seeing through to the other side he saw that Robin was just as confused as him. Amon took a staggering step back.

"Amon, you're a-"Robin started in disbelief.

"I'm not a witch!" Amon shouted, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

"If your mother was one then it can't be that much of a surprise." Robin said, as if putting the pieces together. She placed the gun on the ground and walked towards him.

Amon's eyes were wide. It was as if everything he knew had came crashing down. What was he supposed to do? What if he wouldn't be able to control his powers? Robin sensed these questions. "I'll help you learn ways to control them." She offered.

And now, it was like something inside of _him_ had broke. His past beliefs, his past values. His past life. "How was it like when you first discovered your powers?" He asked, sitting down.

Robin sat down next to him. "I was afraid. I had no clue as to what I was supposed to do, I don't think I even knew what it meant, I was only ten at the time." She saw how badly Amon was shaking and leaned her head against his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "I felt like I had been cursed or was being punished of something that maybe I once did. I felt lost and confused. There is something that I found that makes me feel like everything is better. With my power I told myself that I would do whatever I felt was right or whatever that felt good, as long as nobody is harmed, things now feel okay and it's not that bad." She had to correct herself. "Most of the time."

Amon looked down at her. "Thank you." he said.

Robin didn't know why but all of a sudden she found herself tilting her head up and lightly pulling his down. She smiled to herself because in that moment it didn't really matter. She pushed herself close, kissing him.

It was strange, there was no point in any of it, and it just happened. At first, Amon's stayed stone cold as normal but soon Robin felt him melding into her. Everything was so fast and suddenly Robin found herself with her back to the floor, Amon above her on all fours. "I'll take that advice." He whispered into her ear and begean his way down her neck.

There was no logical way to describe it. She couldn't think, but she could move in ways she never thought possible. it was all touch grab pull at whatever to get where they wanted. Neigther of them even thought that this might be some sort of trick against the other, a way to get the other defenseless and go for the kill. To both of them, it was something they planned never to do and that just made it better. It was so wrong and so right. It felt so good.

Suddenly extremly tired, Amon laid his head on Robin's chest. Slowly they breathed together. Then finally. "What time is it?" Amon asked, not really looking for an answer. They sat up and as Amon looked down in search of his clothes he froze.

Robin followed his eyes. "There's always suposed to be a little blood for the first time." She said softly.

"I'm sorry." He began."I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, I would have told you to stop if I had wnted you to." Robin suprised herself at how calm she was being.

"But what if I hadn't?"

"Then you could apoligise."

Amon stood up, checking the clock on his phone. "We need to get you home so you can change." He took a look at his own clothes. "We'll stop by my place first."

---

Awkard silence had followed them back to his apartment and then to Toko's. A silence that needed to be broken and yet prefered. "We need to talk." Amon started when Robin had finished changing. Robin nodded in agrement. "Just to put it out there, I'm not the type of person who would go and do that sort of thing and obviously, neither are you so." It was cute, how nervous he was. He would sway on his feet and blush and look away. "I don't know what it was that...came over us. I-What do you want to do?"

Robin blinked. The thought hadn't come to her, what _could_ happen next was the real question. That thought excited her. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Like, do you want to forget that happened or would you feel obliged to something because of this or..." Amon dug his foot into the ground and looked at the ceiling. "do you want to get together and maybe..." He mumbled.

"Are you asking me to be your gilrfriend?" Robin asked hesitantly. Amon was so red at this question that she could have mistaken him for a tomato. He glared at the ceiling and nodded. "If I'm going to be your girlfriend, your going to have to look at me." Amon looked down at her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"What are we going to do about Zeizen? He wants you dead."

"I have contact with Solomon, I could explain that you need to speak with them. They'll call you from the office that they need you for something, you go and explain the issue with him and it will all be taken care of." Robin came up with the idea before, hopping that somehow she could convince Amon not to kill her. Funny how that all turned out.

"Then everything will be fine." Amon added, leaning in close.

"Robin! I'm home!" Toko called, bursting into the room. Robin and Amon split apart so fast that Amon fell backwards over the couch and Robin hit the back of her head on the wall. Luckily they were fast enough that Toko hadn't noticed their embrace. "Amon? Why are you here? And what are you doing?" She asked.

Amon sat up. "I...tripped."

"He was just dropping me off after a hunt because it was on the way." Robin hastily explained.

Correction, they had one other big thing to deal with.

* * *

So yeah i know you all are probably dissapionted the crappy implied sex scene. I'm sorry, i tried, but it was just to hard and well i should never write a sence like that. you do not want to see those drafts. so...my appoligies. . oh well, the rest was good, right? Let me know, review!!!


	5. Confession

Well that took a long time to write! First, i want to thank Shikimo for their review because (without knowing it) it had gotten me out of my lazy writer's block and made me realize where the story was actually going. There are (in my opinion) some slow parts or parts that make you want to go "ugh, really?" but stick through it, it's all for the best in the end.

**

* * *

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Chapter five:

**Confession**

A month had passed and by now everyone had forgotten the events that had transpired. The reason was that something new had come up.

Dojima was the first to notice this new 'development' as she called it. It all started the day after Amon and Robin went on a hunt without any surveillance at some old boathouse. They didn't give a report on the hunt right away as they were supposed to, Amon had came in late after the hunt and filed it as a false alarm. When the two came in on the day after they acted strangely. They'd get bright red at the sight of the other and if they spoke to each other they sounded nervous.

Then a week or so later they started acting…cutesy. It was the only way to describe it. They sit near each other and work with each other and talked the even sounded friendly for the most part. They would compliment each other and blush. Dojima was convinced that she heard them calling one another by a pet name once.

So the rumor was that the two were secretly dating. Karasuma was against this from the start. She said that Amon was still with Toko and that their age deference was too great. Sakaki agreed with Dojima immediately, anyways a secret romance was more exciting than anything else going on. Michael was on the fence about it, he thought it was possible but it seemed as if he didn't like the idea.

"Okay so if they aren't together then why are they all 'Oo Robin you look all sexy today. Blush. Blush. I'll help you with this.' and 'You look coolio too!. Blush Blush. Thanks for the help, your so cool.'." Dojima asked, imitating their voices.

"You really shouldn't be talking about your co-workers behind their backs." Karasuma spoke in a crisp end of conversation way.

"They're not just our co-workers, they are our friends." Dojima explained.

Karasuma opened her mouth as if to say more But Sakaki interrupted her. "Shh! They're coming."

Amon and Robin entered the room side by side, chatting about something. _Chatting._ "Amon." Michael started. He turned to him at the sound of his name. "The boss says that a call came for you while you were out." Amon looked to Robin, she nodded in excitement and he hurried over to Zeizen's office.

Amon shut the door behind him. "There was a call for me?" He asked, trying to seem uninterested.

"From Solomon." Zeizen answered. He studied his apprentice. "Some of the higher ups think that your abilities as a lead hunter need improvement. They want you to go to headquarters to go through training again."

"I don't know how they got that idea but I'll go." Amon became excited, this was it, he would explain all of Zeizen's movements behind the scenes and free Robin and himself. He turned to leave the office.

"Why is Robin still here?" Zeizen asked. Amon froze. "It seems as if you've forgotten about your assignment." Apparently he too had noticed the two growing closer.

"You see, sir, she found out about my assignment." Amon slowly explained. "Now I'm going about it by a different tactic, I have to get her to trust me again and finish it when she least expects it." He spoke with cold determination. "She's too dangerous to try the normal way."

"Take care of it when you get back, Solomon wants you there ASAP. You leave tonight."

"Yes, sir."

---

Excitement continued to build. Robin opened the passenger side door to Amon's car and took her seat. Amon did the same on his side. "Was it from Solomon?" She eagerly asked once both of their doors were closed.

Amon nodded. "I need to return to headquarters for training, apparently I'm not doing my job correctly." He added dryly.

"And it's a good thing your not." Robin laughed. "When do you leave?"

"Tonight." Amon paused then continued. "Leadership training takes about two weeks so that's around the time you should expect me to be back."

"That's a long time." Robin said softly. Silence engulfed them. "Why do people usually have to redo training?" She mused in the silence of the un-moving car.

"Various things; being demoted then promoted again, getting violent with the other hunters, failing hunts, their team has bad teamwork, secluding themselves from the team, it needs to be renewed every five years…" Amon trailed off, trying to think of other reasons. He glanced over. "Sexual harassment."

"So you have half of the qualifications." Robin said passively.

Amon glared at her. "Which ones?"

"Failing hunts, secluding yourself from the team, sexual harassment."

"Very funny." In apology, Robin leaned towards him and gave him a light peck on the lips. "I'm not going to see you for two weeks." He reminded her. She moved her hand up along his face and intertwined her fingers in his hair. Amon was leaving that night, it made such a good excuse.

---

Dojima hummed a tune as she happily half-skipped towards her car. Fridays were the best and this weekend's plans proved that it was going to be great. As she came around her candy apple red car, she spotted Amon's car. _They left before me, why are they still here?_ Glancing over, hoping to wave goodbye to Robin, she spotted something else. "Oh my God I was right!" She gasped.

All of a sudden Dojima became pissed. "She could have at least told me." She muttered as she got into her car and drove off.

---

Robin reached her key to the door and froze when she found it. "Toko's home." She turned and whispered to Amon behind her. He opened his mouth as if to speak but closed it again, showing a slight expression of surprise.

"Ro-Amon?" Toko. "What are you doing here?" How she managed to hear the two of them coming up the stairs, Robin didn't know and now they had to use their over-used cover story.

"I think I dropped my wallet here this morning." Amon said. Last time it was his cell and the time before that, his coupons. Coupons? Really? But it worked every time, maybe they were lucky that Toko was so gullible.

"Again? I'm beginning to think our Robin here is a thief!" She smiled and patted Robin on the head as she entered the room.

"Like _I_ would steal anything." Robin rolled her eyes and moved over to the couch, pretending to search it for the 'lost' item. The act was for nothing though, Toko wouldn't take her eyes off of Amon. A different sort of fire burned in the pit of her stomach.

"Amon? Would you like to stay for dinner?" Toko offered before she let him around her and into the apartment.

Amon glanced over to Robin, who gave him an exasperated look. "I shouldn't stay here long, I have, I mean…" He floundered around, trying to come up with an excuse.

"It won't be long, I've just about finished cooking." Robin glared at the back of her head. _Conniving witch._

"Oh, uh in that case, sure I guess." He mumbled. Toko gave him a big smile before turning around and heading off to the kitchen. Behind the older woman's back Robin silently mouthed a sarcastic 'great' to Amon, his response being a defensive 'what'. By now the two had forgotten about their search and sat down in awkward silence, waiting for Toko to serve them.

"So, anything new with you, Amon?"

"I'm being sent back to HQ for lead training."

"Oh? Amon's been a bad boy?" Robin stared awkwardly down at her plate, trying to tune out the obnoxious giggle coming from the woman beside her. Maybe this was what it was like for a kid when their parents flirted, except if that kid was in a relationship with one of those parents…maybe that wasn't the best analogy. Robin sighed and scratched her head, using her arm to block the sight of Toko. Why did she have to be here if all this was was an excuse for her guardian to flirt- and badly at that? Really, she was being not only extremely obvious but she also gave of the air of being _easy_. Robin didn't even notice the hypocrisy of her thoughts as they led her to feeling more embarrassed for Toko than before.

Still trying to hide the offending woman behind her arm- probably to the others in the room it was obvious as to what she was trying to do, with her face a bright red and eyes adverted to stare at a corner there was no doubt- all she wanted to do was get out of there, but if she were to leave them alone, what kind of ideas would Toko get in her head? She flicked an accusing look at her before returning them to the corner.

Amon cleared his throat loudly. "I should be going now." It had been at least a half hour of her rambling on after the meal had been consumed. By this point Robin was doing all she could to keep herself from banging her head into the table repeatedly. Sickening, if Toko was going to do this it should be in the privacy of her own home, Robin thought before realizing that this was her home, then she decided that Toko simply shouldn't act like this at all.

"What about you wallet?" Toko asked.

"Wa-? Oh." From underneath the table he took the lost item from his pocket and lightly tossed it on the floor

Robin sighed, for about the fiftieth time that night, and casually scooted her chair back until the wallet was in her line of vision. "Found it!" she exclaimed, pointing under the table.

Amon silently picked it up and returned it to his pocket. He nodded to both of them, said goodnight and headed for the door. Now Toko sighed after he left. "Did you see that?" Robin turned to her after avoiding her eyes all night, half wondering if she should answer. "He's so cute when he gets all awkward."

Robin was taken aback by the comment, cute? Amon? She had never thought of Amon in that way before and that Toko had…it made her feel odd, just plain weird. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Toko noticed her reaction. "What? You don't think Amon can be cute?"

"I don't know, I guess." She answered truthfully, the whole idea being new to her it was impossible to decide either way.

The older woman smiled. "You will when you fall in love." She spoke with an air of knowing.

Robin's face grew hot, this time not only with emotion. Part or her wanted to blurt out 'but I am in love!' but another part of her knew that it would only lead to more complications. Still, it made her think. She eyed Toko filtering through her bag and for the first time felt bad. She so obviously loved him, but was it different from the way Robin felt? When it came to Amon, she felt excited, comfortable, and generally happy. Was it the same way for Toko? Vying for information, Robin spoke up. "What's it like to be in love?"

Toko's face brightened as she turned from her bag. She sighed and sat on the couch. "I'm not sure I can explain it."

"What do you mean?"

"I suppose if I had to put it in words I would say that it's the best thing in the world, but then sometimes it feels like the worst."

Robin narrowed her eyes, digesting her words. "I don't get it." She finally said after a silence so long that Toko had turned on the television, hopes of a conversation lost.

Toko tapped the remote against her chin in thought, trying to come up with an explanation. "How about this, think about what your parents a-"

"I don't have parents." Robin involuntarily interrupted. The response had become a habit over the years.

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

"It's fine." She didn't understand why people assumed she would be offended when the talk of parents came up. She didn't really care, of course she wished she knew who they were but she never felt 'deprived' or anything.

"Alright well, I was going to say that usually people learn about it from their parents." Toko awkwardly stared into the TV, hoping that nothing she said had offended the young hunter.

Out came a high pitched "Oh." that Toko took as interest. So she went with it.

"I had been thinking that maybe the reason why Amon's so difficult is because of what happened with his mother." Not taking well to what seemed to be a muggy transition, Robin stared blankly at Toko while trying to figure out what she had said. "He learned love from his mother but because of what happened, he doesn't want to trust anything he learned from her." Toko explained, slower this time.

"I see." Robin nodded in understanding. They sat in silence for a while watching the television, a cheesy soap as always, until a thought came to Robin's mind. It wasn't something she could ask. Nah, Amon had said she was like his sister. _like_, though, not 'practically' or 'basically', _like_ isn't the same thing. Robin fidgeted.

"Toko?"

"What?

Robin blushed and ducked her head. "Never mind." Toko raised her eyebrows at her before turning back to the screen. _That is not something you ask!_ But, what if she could find a way to ask it without actually asking it? "Um, Toko?"

"Yes?"

"What is it that -I mean, when your with someone, like dating-wise, what's that like? Or, I dunno, what do you do?" The fumbling was part act part how-do-I-say-this-without-sounding-like-an-idiot. Toko fell for it completely.

She chuckled. "You're cute when you're awkward, too." Robin rolled her eyes. Toko smiled. "To answer your question; anything, yeah there are the traditional stuff like going out to eat or the movies etcetera. But as long as you're with someone you love it doesn't matter what you do. Now," She turned to face her, shaking the remote in her direction. "What is with all the questions, you don't have someone in mind while asking them do you?"

_This could work._ Robin glanced sideways. "Ah…"

"So, who's the lucky boy that caught your eye?"

Robin looked down at her feet so that Toko wouldn't be able to read that she was making it up by her face. "At the convenience store, there's a guy who works there and we talk just about everyday…He's nice and funny…"

"And cute." Toko added, believing every word. Robin nodded. "Alright, so here's what you do." Robin tuned her out, listening for what she was waiting to hear. "- just make sure that you be safe and all that, not like I really need to worry about that with you but I still feel I should say it." Toko had a habit of interpreting things in the wrong way so, like a puppeteer pulling at the strings of her doll, Robin cocked her head in a look of disbelief and received the reaction she searched for. Toko appeared somewhat ticked. "I know what you're thinking," For extra emphasis she added "and you're wrong."

"I don't know what you're talking about, I wasn't thinking anything."

"Amon and I have not slept together." Robin brought her hand to her forehead, in what Toko took as embarrassment when in actuality she was laughing, surprised at how easy it had been to get her to say what she wanted to know.

"I think I'm going to take my bath now."

"I know, tmi." Toko muttered before returning to the TV. For a brief moment Robin wondered what 'tmi' stood for, but being what their discussion was she decided that she didn't want to know.

Letting her mind wander in the relaxing bathing ritual, she realized that only a month ago she could not lie for anything and now she did it without second thought. It was a good tool to have in the field of law, if what she did was considered 'law', so it was a good thing, right? "I'm getting better." _Lying. Lair. Fake. Fraud. _Robin ended her bath earlier than usual that night.

---

_Why?_ Robin thought on the first day that Amon was gone. Annoyed with the fact that he would be gone for so long, she questioned his position. _Why did Zeizen have to make Amon his apprentice? He easily could have used Toko. She always seems interested in the hunts, I can't believe that she wouldn't have wanted to be a hunter. Maybe her mom disapproved…maybe it's because she is Zeizen's only child and a daughter at that…_She mused throughout the day. Every time something came up and interrupted her thought process, anger rose within her and, for the first time in a month, heat rose with it, collecting around her.

Her co-workers noticed how agitated she was and wondered why. Dojima, on the other hand, thought she knew exactly why. She had decided, though, to keep her mouth shut on Robin and Amon's relationship. If they didn't want to tell anyone, then what right did she have to speak.

---

Only the fourth day and Robin had already taken to nervously pacing. Angry that it wasn't even halfway over, she grew snappy and frustrated. Worry then began to spread, realizing that she had been unintentionally gathering heat for the past few days. Why had that started up again? Was it because he wasn't here?

---

By the fifth day Robin had came to the conclusion that if the reason this was happening was because Amon wasn't there, the next nine days would suck. And it wasn't until late that night, after noticing the heat increasing again, that she realized that it might be impossible.

The rest of the STN-J watched day by day as her impatience and health (at least that's what it seemed to be) faded. They were seriously beginning to think there was something wrong with her. Dojima had decided that something else must be up then what she had earlier thought. But if that wasn't it, then what was causing this?

---

On the night between days six and seven, the nightmares started. The terrors always included an eternal fire, Amon's gun trained on her, and the voices of the heat. _Fraud. Faker. Burn them. Hypocrite. They deserve to die. Liar._ "Who are you?" Not only in her nightmares did the heat chant. Robin found herself twitching and jumping around every corner, the sound of their voices echoing beating with her heart. B-bmp. _Burn. _B-bmp. _Phony._ B-bmp. _Kill._ B-bmp. _Imposter._ "Who am I?"

---

Robin looked horrible. She jumped at everything, she was always on edge, and she had developed a constant shake. Someone would so much as say her name and she would jump, whip her head around and stare at whoever it was wide-eyed before calming in the slightest.

What could possibly cause Robin to act like this? It wasn't long after this question was asked that Dojima remembered an incident that occurred about a month ago. She had almost forgot about it and now that she had remembered she wondered why they hadn't looked into any further.

How weird were Robin's answers when Karasuma had 'interrogated' her over the whole smoking thing. Whatever, past was past, but what was up with what she had said?

"_Why don't you ask him. He knows. I bet he's laughing about it on the inside too."_ She had been referring to Amon after being asked why she was laughing in the serious situation. _"So what, everyone turns and blames me for everything? Why should I be the one in trouble, when he's done much worse?! What do you know? What do you know about me, or what's going on? You'll never know! He sure as hell won't tell you!"_ What had she meant? Had Amon done something…Something to her? "_I'm not going to try to explain because no one would believe me! You think that you know what's going on, but that's not what any of this is about! And you'll all be sorry when you've found me dead somewhere!"_ She had been crying. And 'dead somewhere'? She was afraid that someone-Amon was going to kill her? He must have threatened her in some sort of way and was hurting her or…

"Oh my God." Dojima whispered. She had figured it out. Robin and Amon weren't _together_, he had threatened her with her life into it! That explained everything! The smoking, the outburst, the cutesy way she acted around him (She must have been trying to delude herself that everything was ok), the blatant fear she now showed, it all made sense.

But what could she do? She was not going to go to the others, no that would just make matters worse. She had to talk to Robin, to confirm things, and go from there. She needed to get her alone and soon, tomorrow was the last day before the day Amon would come back.

---

Robin awoke screaming and crying. Again. Curled up with her hands cupping her ears, gripping so tightly that her nails dug into the side of her head and drew blood. Again. Finally, she shook herself and slowly crawled out of bed, only to crumple to the floor once she no longer had it's support. Sweat poured from every facet as she crouched there on the floor, panting. Panting turned to gasping, a gasp turned to a hiccup and the hiccup turned to a convulsion.

She had never before realized how painful convulsing was, now, when there was nothing to come up, it didn't feel needed. All it did was cause the top half of her body to spring forward uncontrollably, painfully ending in her forehead hitting the floor. She laid there on her knees as the shudders continued to only bring up spit. She desperately wanted to get to the bathroom, but the heat was like a gravitational force that kept her glued to the floor.

The tears that had subsided started up again and between sobs when her breath caught, she found that everything felt better when she stopped breathing. Her heart raced at the thought and began sobbing and clutching at the carpet.

"I'll be fine." She managed to gasp out. "This will only last a little longer." Robin forced herself to believe her words and sat up.

She crawled over to her pile of clothes, dressed, then crawled out into the kitchen to rest her head on the cool tile. Upon impact the loud voices grew quieter and the words more distinct, instead of the mush of the words all mixed together. Sighing with content, she was very glad that Toko had long left for work, this would have been hard to explain if she had been there.

When people spend a lot of time alone, even if that time is spent with others, they form a habit of speaking their thoughts out loud. "I haven't been to church in a month and a half."…

…"I should go."

How Robin had made the trek between the apartment and church on the motorized scooter in her state, was a mystery. Perhaps the yearning to go after neglecting to for so long had reenergized her. Whatever the reason, she had made it. It felt so good to be…home.

The warmness of home soon fell away to a cold feeling of guilt as she stepped inside the church. The pews were empty, but Robin felt as if hundreds of faces were turned towards her. Watching her, judging her. She grew defensive. _What have _I_ done?_ It was as if all of a sudden the pews were just normal benches and that she wasn't walking up to the alter, but to the judge's pulpit. _Protect yourself._ The heat spoke to her. _Fight for your innocence and burn._ Robin raised her glaring eyes to the crucifix and brought in as much heat as she could find.

"What have I done to deserve this cold judgment? I have done nothing wrong!" _Liar._

"Lair? You say that but what did I do? Nothing!" _Stop lying._

"No, you stop!" _Look at yourself._

Robin tore her gaze away from the crucifix, but as she turned her eyes to the floor she saw an image of herself. Like a movie clip she watched as she burned, slept with Amon and lied about it all. From this perspective her immediate thoughts were that it was disgusting. All that last month of her life was those three things, repeated over and over again. And for what reason?

_For survival._ "I burned to survive and I love Amon, we just have to hide for a little bit!" She defended herself, but it still sounded like an excuse to her ears. _Liar._

The eyes of the jury were on her, the judge was striking his gavel. _I have to stop them. I have to burn them._ Fire flashed in her eyes, but as they returned to the cross she closed them. Tears rolled out from under her eyelids, they burned as if the flames had actually started in her eyes.

"What have I done!" Robin cried and fell to her knees before the alter. She couldn't keep the guilt within, she couldn't. Someone else needed to share this burden with her and Amon wasn't there. He wouldn't be. For a moment the burning in her eyes grew so intense that she could not hold in a scream of pain before the burning stopped, replaced by a freezing cold numbness.

_Ring! Ring!_ Robin sat up and wiped her eyes before reaching to her phone. "Hello?" Her voice was hoarse.

"I thought playing hooky was my job! It's noon and you're not here yet, what's up?" Dojima's overly bubbly voice not only made Robin feel worse about herself, but it also brought the sound of hope. Maybe if she told Dojima, she wouldn't feel so bad anymore!

"I wasn't feeling very well this morning is all, I'll be there in a bit."

"If your feeling sick, stay home." Robin could almost hear Dojima's smile. "But we can't have a minor stay home by herself now can we?"

"Yes we can, I'm not a kid, and you're a minor too."

"Not for long I won't! Anyways it's a good excuse to skip work." Robin rolled her eyes and gave in to Dojima's request, saying that they would meet up at her and Toko's place.

---

Robin hurried up the stairs to her room. _Idiot!_ She thought. Now that she had Dojima come, she would be able to tell her, right? Wrong. She ran over what she should say in her head a thousand times but nothing sounded right. And what would Dojima think when she did tell her? "There you are!" Robin looked up and saw her standing in front of her door.

"I had been at church." She explained before Dojima could ask.

As Robin walked past her to open the door, Dojima noticed the sweat that ran down the back of her neck. "You look horrible! And you were going to go in to the office like this?"

Robin shrugged. "I guess." She entered the room and flopped on the couch. "I have nothing else to do." A silence followed. _Just say it._ She coached herself. Finally, she worked up enough courage to speak. "Um, Dojima I have to tell you something."

At the same time, Dojima spoke. "Robin, I need to ask you something."

They blinked an stared at each other before Robin declined. "Oh, you go first." _It's okay, I'll get to it later._

"No, you." Dojima said, maybe Robin was going to tell her and she wouldn't have to ask. Robin blushed and shook her head. Dojima sighed and took a deep breath. "Alright. I know this might be a sore subject, but do you remember a month ago when…" Both of their stomachs dropped. Robin turned to Dojima, afraid as to what she was referring to. The later turned away from the younger hunter, all of a sudden feeling bad for her and worried that she'd freak if she brought this up. "uh, you know…" She sighed again. "When Amon had caught you smoking?"

Robin's eyes widened. "Please don't bring that up."

"What did you mean when you were talking to Karasuma?" She persisted.

Her confusion quickly turned to realization. "Oh, that's-" Her mouth went dry. How was she going to explain _that_? "I was just…"

"You can tell me." Dojima said, sitting herself in one of the dinning chairs.

"Wait. What do you think I was talking about?" Robin asked, sensing something odd about the way the older hunter was speaking. Like she _consoling_ her.

"Robin. I saw you and Amon-"

"Oh no." Robin hid her beat red face in her hands. "That was right before he left, wasn't it?" Dojima opened her mouth to answer, being somewhat surprised, but stopped when she continued speaking. "I knew that wasn't a good idea." There were _cameras_ in the parking garage, who knows who else could have seen them. But…that had been a while ago, if someone else knew something she'd know by now. It wasn't that big of a deal, she was going to tell her anyway. Robin sat up and composed herself. "Actually that was what I was going to say."

"Don't worry, I understand the situation perfectly, but what are you going to do?"

"I highly doubt that. And there's nothing really to do."

"Don't give up! I'll help!" She spoke adamantly and grabbed a hold of Robin's hand, who was now certain that she had no idea what she was talking about. "We can do it together!"

Robin stared back at her, too lost for words. Dojima nodded at her encouragingly. She sighed. "Dojima, please explain what you're going on about?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it all started that day over two months ago. You and Amon were on a hunt together and for whatever not blaming you reason you screwed it up. Amon is pissed and does something to hurt you. You deny it, he gets away with it. Now he's thinking 'I can keep doing things and get away with it.' Not too long later a bad storm hits and Toko has you stay at his place. Highly tempted with the situation Amon…uh is…" Dojima paused to collect her thoughts and word things straight. "Yeah. Here's where I'm not sure what happened. I'm thinking that he tries something but then is like 'nah, shouldn't do this.' and says sorry or something. You at this point are confused but whatever your set in your ways, he technically didn't do anything so there's nothing to tell.

"Alright. So now this sort of thing continues for a while until finally Amon, again for whatever reason, wants more and threatens you into doing stuff. You just don't even know what to do, and in like a cry for help you take to smoking. That doesn't turn out well. Then the two of you get a hunt somewhere where there are no cameras and on this hunt neither of you use your earpieces, everything changes after this hunt. I understand that your afraid and you still don't want Amon to get in trouble, but you don't have to be afraid anymore."

Robin listened through the whole story, thoroughly surprised at the fact that she saw how she had came up with her conclusion. Still, she was wrong and Robin would have to set her straight. "So you think he raped me?" She asked, trying to keep her voice even.

Dojima immediately noticed her agitation. "y-yes." She answered hesitantly.

"I can't believe you'd think that he would do something like that." Actually, she could but she wasn't going to say anything that might even in the slightest give her a hint that it could be true. "No, that is the opposite of what's going on."

Dojima hung her head. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay."

"Well then, congratulations…Is there a reason I wasn't told this?" She feigned anger.

"I was just about to, but then you went off on your anti-Amon rant."

"I said sorry!"

Now on to the next problem. How the heck (and really, why the heck) was she going to tell Dojima about the sex. By now Robin had tricked herself into believing that _that_ and the guilt behind it was the cause of her suffering. And somehow, she had came to the conclusion that confessing it would make everything better. She looked down at her hands and fiddled with them nervously. Dojima noticed.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm not having sex with-!"Both of their eyes widened and Robin brought her hands to her mouth. "opps, uh I mean…" _Crap. I said it._ What would she say? Would she tell everyone else? What would _they_ think? It wasn't even like she was going to do it again, those times had been mistakes (as she had just now decided). Robin buried her face in her hands. "I had sex with Amon!"

Dojima sat in shocked silence before speaking. "Oh my God, you're not pregnant are you!"

Robin looked up in surprise. "I didn't even think of that!"

"Well we can get you a pregnancy test from the store." She grabbed her coat before softly adding. "Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Would you get off of that, if anything I'm the one more at fault here!" Robin snapped.

"Alright, then, c'mon." She ushered Robin towards the door.

As Dojima reached for the door handle, it swung open reveling a surprised Toko. The two hunters staggered back, speechless. "Where are you two going?" She asked, regaining her posture. _Oh_. She hadn't heard what they were talking about, she was simply wasn't expecting to see the two of them there in the doorway. _Thank God._ "Robin, what's wrong?" She asked upon seeing her tear streaked face.

Dojima glanced between the two as Robin awkwardly tried to come up with a reason why she would have been crying. "I f-fell down the stairs." She mumbled, looking to the floor. _Toko._ She glared at her feet, realizing how the heat became so much stronger now that she was there, especially now in this situation.

"That's not good." Toko said, patting Robin's head as she past by the two. "Oh!" She started excitedly. "Amon comes home tomorrow!" Robin winced, dreading whatever she was going to say next. "Maybe I should make him a welcome home dinner, he'd probably like that. What do you think, Robin?"

Dojima eyed Robin skeptically. "Maybe, but he might be to tired to do anything." She answered with strained interest. As the older hunter watched, she noticed that Robin had grown paler and the sweat that came down her neck began soaking the back of her dress, she had also started shaking.

"That's never stopped him from enjoying my cooking before!" Toko said triumphantly.

"Really? Anyway Doji-" She was going to say that they needed to go, but no. Toko had to go and interrupt her.

"I really don't like this whole 'taking a break' thing very much, so I don't think I'm going to stick to it anymore." The sound of her voice covered up a harsh intake of breath coming from Robin that soon became a pattern of ragged breathing. "So where were you two off to?"

Robin heard the sound of Toko's voice but couldn't register what she was saying. It sounded almost like something was covering her ears or that she was underwater. "Robin, are you still not feeling very well?" Spinning, everything was spinning, why wouldn't they just sit still? She kept blinking, trying to refocus her eyes but nothing was clear.

Her torso lurched forward and her hands flew to cover her mouth to prevent anything from coming up. Before she knew it, Robin found herself kneeling on the floor, convulsing again. She couldn't hear the others' surprised outbursts as the retching sound filled her ears. Still, all she felt was cold, a cold numbness. Blackness encroached on her vision until it overtook her, drowning her in dark, cold, numbness.

---

Slowly, Robin creaked open her eyes. She felt so lightheaded and this place was so bright…this place, where was she? Robin turned her head to the left and saw Michael sitting in a chair next to her. "Robin! You're awake!" If Michael was here then she must be in the office, but why was she there?

"What happened?" She murmured sleepily.

"I'm not sure, Ms. Dojima said yesterday that you passed out though." Michael shrugged. Ok, so she had passed out, but why was she in the office…unless…

She glanced around and realized that this was not Raven's Flat and that she was in the hospital. And if she was in the hospital then…"Michael! What are you doing here!" Robin exclaimed.

"I got permission to come, it's ok."

"Oh." She noticed that he was looking down at his hands on his lap, his face was red. _Zeizen wouldn't just offer him to come…Michael must have-_

"I-I know this probably isn't a good time," Michael abruptly began speaking fast. _He's not saying what I think he is._ "or really anytime I guess, but um…" He gave her an awkward smile as if he was asking her to understand what he was trying to say without having to say it. _Please don't._ "What I mean is, Robin I-"

"Don't, Michael. I can't." She tried to sound firm, but she knew she failed. She liked Michael, he was her buddy and now things were just going to get awkward.

"Oh, uh well can I ask why?" _…Seriously?_ Michael's eyes flicked to a machine next to her, noticing that her temperature suddenly flew up. _He's not going to take this the way Dojima did._

"Amon…"

"I know you have kind of a thing for him, but you must know that nothing could ever happen between you." As he said this he noticed her temperature fly up again.

"What do you know? Amon and I-" Robin sighed and brought her knees up to her chest, this felt different than with Dojima too. "I'm sorry Michael, we-" She whispered before her voice caught. Why did this feel so much harder?

"Ooooh." Michael leaned back in understanding. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," _Why am I apologizing? _"I just want to be alone right now. Could you-?" Michael nodded and slowly headed out the door.

As he stepped out of the room, Michael lifted his head to see Sakaki and Karasuma leading Amon towards him. Dojima looked up from a magazine in a chair beside the door. Anger welled inside of him and he ran up to the much larger man, roughly grabbing his shirt. "You bastard!" Amon blinked in surprise. "I can't believe you! I doubt you even feel anything!"

"Dude, what are you talking about?" Sakaki asked.

"I'm talking about Robin!" Michael shouted.

Amon's eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" Dojima exclaimed, jumping from her seat.

"Tell anyone _what_?" Karasuma asked, obviously annoyed that everyone knew something that she didn't.

"Yeah, what about Robin?" Sakaki added.

The two out of the loop were ignored. "How do either of you know?" Amon repeated.

"Robin told me." Michael and Dojima said in unison.

"And you don't even care." Michael added.

Amon glared at him. "I wouldn't talk if I were you, the only reason you're here is because Zeizen has you bugged. And now he knows everything." He walked past the group and into Robin's room.

Robin turned from the window to see him entering. "Amon!" As he came closer and sat down in the chair next to her, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "…you're so...cold." It was the first thing she noticed.

---

_A priest named Juliano had summoned him. He had asked the reason why Robin had requested to send him back to headquarters. "So, Amon?"_

"_Truthfully, I'm not sure. Perhaps she thought that I didn't do my job very well, sir. But it is a good thing that she did."_

"_And why is that?"_

_Amon looked the man straight in the eyes and said: "Robin has become a danger. Her powers have become strained and she can no longer control them properly. Her craft has begun to consume her. Now you don't need to do anything about it, I am only informing you on the situation, we of the STN-J will take care of it."_

_---_

Amon wrapped his own arms around her and explained. "I've had a rough time without you." It was one of the few things of truth he had told her.

* * *

I really want to know what you think! Please review!

Random: At one point i typed in for Amon to say (on accident) "Hoe do you know?" it cracked me up. If Amon actually talked like that i think i would cry...partly from sadness partly from laughter. picture this:

"Why are you doing this?"

Amon: "Yo, you a witch, dog!"

Randy Jackson Amon?! WTF?!


	6. Hostile Feelings Part 1

So i know it's been about half a year? no? ok i cant remember. its been a long time. i'm sorry. I've had a summer job for those who don't know, i worked at an amusement park, it was epic, it was my life. I missed writing. i'm getting into routine again now so overall i should update more

this story: this is the first half of chapter 6...i haven't writen the rest yet but this chapter was going to be waaaaaay to long so i decided to split it up, that way i also get an update which will hopefully make you guys happy. but after the next part of this chapter we'll be at the final one. Exciting!

also, im in a college in the schools class for writing (college course in high school)(not AP)(not community college/ university class) and im learning a whole lot and i hope to start incorportating what i learn in here..tho i really didn't get much of a chance to do so.

also i'm looking for a Beta Reader. i sent some people pm's but never got responses after over three months...T_T is there anyone here willing? say so and ill check ur BR profile and maybe we could work together (backwards i know, but still)

please review! Love you guys! (lol i'm such a suck up)

**

* * *

Addiction:**

**Chapter Six:**

**Hostile Feelings**

"I know that it was for the Hunt, but did you really have to sleep with her!"

Amon couldn't wait for this conversation to end. How Toko found out, he had a few guesses and most of them involving the fact that Michael had been bugged at the hospital. He shook his head, Michael was supposed to be their tech guy and he didn't even know when he was wired? "I understand that it sounds otherwise but honestly it was the only thing I could do to save my ass back there."

"It was more than one time Amon, do you expect me to believe that?" Yeah, she was pissed. But what was he supposed to do about it? She would get over it in a week or two anyway so it wasn't like it mattered. Except for right now, where she was chewing his ear off over the phone. "And don't give me any of that 'you wouldn't get it because your not a Hunter' crap." _Damn, I was going to use that._ "Is there something wrong with _me_ or something? Tha- That you'd do that with her and not me-"

"Toko, there is nothing wrong with you. You know the reason behind that is because I'm a Seed." _and now she'll start crying…_

"So what is it then? Because she's going to die soon anyway then that makes it okay?" The hysteria was creeping into her voice as it cracked on the last word.

Now he felt bad. It wasn't as if she ever did anything wrong. Amon's voice became softer. "I wouldn't do that to you."

"But you did!"

_True._ "I didn't mean anything by it! I promise!"

"Then why did you do it?"

Why _did_ he do it? He…honestly didn't know. The first time was for defense? Was it? Amon closed his eyes….he remembered feeling scared. At that moment, he hadn't been able to think. He had needed comfort. _but that's _not_ comfort_. And afterwards he was even more scared, he…he couldn't believe what he had done and then, then he had decided to use it to his advantage.

His hands shook. _It…was just a simple mistake._ "I'm sorry."

But if it was mistake then why did he continue?

"I'm sorry."

There was something more. When he had first gotten to Solomon headquarters, Amon was planning to tell them about what Zeizen was doing. If he had done that then he could have killed two birds with one stone. Robin would still be taken care of and then he would be made the new head of the STN-J. For some reason that thought had possessed him.

Robin had said that because Zeizen had trained him, then when their boss was gone he would take his place and be just like him. Amon didn't want to be like Zeizen. He didn't agree with some of the things he did and if Amon was the head, then he could work with the factory to hopefully find out more on seeds and witches. By learning more then maybe he could nullify his witch genes and maybe he could live a normal life.

_That was foolish of me._ Once a witch, always a witch. He couldn't change himself now that he had awakened. He couldn't go back to being human because he never really was one. Amon hadn't been a witch nor human, he was a Hunter.

After all that he had seen and done, he could no longer go back.

"I'm sorry."

Toko sighed on the other end. "I forgive you." That no way in hell meant that she forgave Robin.

* * *

Robin was internally flipping out. Only seconds ago she had received a message from Amon saying that Toko had found out. Not only that, but he had asked her to come live with him! It was perfectly understandable how she could no longer live with Toko (_that_ would be far to awkward.) but…_I can't live with a guy!_

_Hypocrite._

"Shut-up." She muttered.

Anyway, an excitement bubbled in her belly as she rushed to pack up her few belongings. Then her stomach became a rock as she heard the front door open. Robin's eyes widened and she froze completely still, listening for her roommate's movements. For a moment she thought she heard Toko coming towards her room but then she heard the door to the bathroom close.

Robin let out a sigh of relief before closing her suitcase and turning towards her window. It wasn't the best way out but it would have to do.

To her surprise, the door to her room burst open leaving Robin stuck with one foot on the windowsill and an enraged Toko in the doorway.

_This looks really bad._

_And who's fault is that?_

"Now isn't a good time for this." She mumbled.

"Not a good time is right." Her soon-to-be-ex-roommate snapped, dropping a waste basket that Robin knew was from the bathroom. She winced at the sight, knowing what set Toko off.

"I wasn't talking to you." Robin avoided her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to give her more of a reason to hate the young hunter.

"That's not much of a surprise seeing that you've kept all of this from me for so long." Bitterness rang in her voice.

"I never meant to hurt you." It was the truth, Robin had never really thought about what Toko would think, say, or feel. She had been only thinking about herself. "I wish things could have turned out differently."

"You say that, halfway crawling out the window." There was more sadness in her voice then anger. "You're just like him." Toko ran her hand though her hair. Robin watched nervously as the older woman's breath caught and her body shook.

She was crying.

Robin dropped her suitcase and rushed over to her side. But…how could she provide comfort to her friend when she was the cause of the pain? Why hadn't she ever thought of Toko's feelings? _Because she was my enemy…she still is an enemy…_That didn't mean that she wasn't her friend!

It was okay - it wasn't like Amon loved Toko anyway.

According to Toko, Robin didn't know what love was.

'_and I love Amon!'_

_What _is _love?_

She couldn't help but remember Michael's face only a day ago when she told him about her and Amon. Nor could she stop herself from comparing it to the despair in Toko's sobs. Her heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest, like what she had done to them.

_It's not fair of me._

_And you just figured that out?_

"I don't need this right now." The quiet retort towards her thoughts involuntarily worked it's way out of her.

A resulting glare came from the woman before her. "How can you be that selfish?" Toko's voice came out surprisingly even. Dangerously even. Robin took a step back. "How can you _still_ be, when now you have everything I've ever wanted."

"Huh?" Robin understood that she must partially be referring to Amon…but _everything?_

"How is it that a lowly witch gets it all!" It was like watching the transformation of man into beast as Toko's anger grew and then suddenly, as if a light bulb went off in her head, the look in her eyes changed. "That's right, a witch."

For some reason Robin felt scared. "I'm not a witch." She spoke calmly, backing away from her.

"I've been surrounded by the hunts my whole life, I know a witch when I see one."

"Toko, you're not a hunter." She was almost back to the window again. Just a little farther.

"Why can't I be!" _She's snapped._ "I'll prove…I'll prove that I can be!" Robin couldn't help but think that Toko must have be thinking 'and win back my man!' also.

_Wait a minute._ All jokes aside, if Toko was trying to prove she could be a hunter…and she was the STN-J's main target…_Crap!_

It was a standoff, Toko waiting for Robin to make a move while Robin was not going to let this happen. She was her boss's daughter! Her boss's daughter who probably wanted her dead, but still. Anyway what if she used her powers! She really would be killed! This was definitely _not_ going to happen.

Robin turned in hopes of escaping but was caught by the wrist. _She's a lot stronger than I thought._

"You're not running away!" Toko shouted, pulling the younger girl closer.

The fear starting to settle in, Robin pulled out the only defense she could think of. "What are you going to do? It's not like no one will notice if I disappear."

"I know why you passed out a few days ago and it makes a perfect alibi."

"I've been sick, what does that have to do with anything?" Toko knew…? Knew what! A panic arose inside of her.

"I've seen this plenty of times. You're losing it, just like Kate, jus-"

"NO!" Robin shouted, jerking her arm away from her. "I am perfectly under control!"

"And that's why you're temperature has been over a hundred for about a month? And why Amon caught you burning things a few months ago?"

_Burn Her!_ Her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"You can't deny it."

_Burn Her!_

"_You're_ just jealous, aren't you?" Robin mocked. Toko was wrong. She had to be. "Because Amon likes me more."

"Why would I be jealous of a baby faced whore like you?"

Robin was instantly both emotionally and physically inflamed.

While on the surface she was like a raging inferno, she felt like she could curl up in a dark hole.

_Whore._

She was right.

_Burn her!_

She was going to pay.

"_Take it back!_" The fire glowed in her eyes as she screamed and shoved Toko away from her. Toko stumbled backwards, surprised at Robin's outburst. "_I said to take it back!"_ she started to shove her again but in defense Toko slapped her across the face.

Robin froze in shock. "You're acting like a child." She didn't stay frozen for long.

"Why should you care how I act?" She snapped. "Weren't you just planning on shooting Orbo into me?" Toko lowered her eyes. "How can you call me a child when what you're doing is just as bad?" She didn't have to add anything. She didn't know why she did. Maybe somewhere deep down she wanted this to happen. Maybe somewhere deep down she wanted to let go.

"All because you can't take the fact that you lost him to me." _Idiot!_ Robin wanted to take it back the second she said it.

"You _Bitch_!" Toko had been so close to the edge the whole time and Robin had just pushed her far enough to set her off. She lunged at her throat, sending Robin crashing into the wall behind her only inches away from the window to her right.

The urge to burn flew through the roof. It was scary…and yet exciting. Like in action movies when they were trying to defuse a bomb. She could blow at anytime, it was a test, she was going to prove she had the control that was slipping from her fingers.

Robin jammed the butt of her hand up under Toko's chin, trying to push her away. The wannabe hunter removed her hands from around Robin's neck and grabbed her wrists, dragging her farther to the right.

"Who would have thought our little nun would have ended up the biggest sinner of all of us." Robin winced, freeing one of her arms to elbow Toko in the ribs.

"You can't even say that. I know what you and Zeizen have been planning!" She shouted as Toko grabbed at the collar of her dress. "You planned to kill me from the beginning!"

Toko pushed her back into the wall. "Amon's in on it too."

"Not anymore!"

It didn't take long for Robin to realize that she was getting the crap beaten out of her. Toko…actually knew what she was doing. She must have trained for this, she had wanted to be a hunter… And what did Robin know? How to burn. But she couldn't do that here!

Toko kept restraining her and then moving in to the throat. She was going for the kill. All Robin could do is attempt to push her away and gasp for air when she had the chance. Robin didn't want to _die_. She had to do something.

Her hands were on her throat again and out of desperation Robin took her nails to Toko's face. She drew back again but this time Robin kept at it. Expertly knocking her arms away, Toko then kneed her in the stomach.

This time, Robin grabbed a hold of Toko's shirt as she crashed into the window. With Toko's added impact, the window cracked. A second later the two of them fell through the window onto the rickety fire escape.

It was almost like the first time with Amon in the boathouse, except that now they were trying to hurt each other. It was all grab, pull, bite, scratch at whatever they could get at. And the urge was so great.

There was glass everywhere, she was bloody and in more pain than she ever remembered being. She had held this in for so long, such intensity that her body was shaking, her vision was fading and she found it hard to breathe. Being almost strangled to death multiple times had something to do with it but she knew there was something more.

It hurt…inside of her. She wasn't sure where but it was there. And it was much worse than her physical injuries.

It was crying. It was _screaming_. She needed to get it out. It had to leave.

_Can you do it?_

_Can you knowingly burn her even though she's not a witch?_

She couldn't -wouldn't, but she couldn't breathe.

If she did, could she breathe again?

If she did, would the pain go away?

She could. It would.

If she did it -just a little- would anybody mind?

If she didn't kill her, would it matter?

_Can you live with that?_

Toko was trying her hardest to kill her, so why couldn't Robin try her hardest to stop her?

It made sense, didn't it?

It was fair, right?

_Do it. Burn her._

Robin closed her eyes, the heat channeling inside of her getting ready to be released.

A familiar gasp filled her ears. _Dojima?_ "What are you doing?"

She could feel Toko beginning to release her and the sound of feet on metal and glass.

Robin wanted to stow it away and look up at the face of her friend but it slipped. Her tear filled eyes opened with a flick of flame and soon her fires formed out in the open air above the street. It had been all she could do to change the direction.

Upon seeing this, Toko backed away in fear. Robin lifted her head and saw that Dojima shared Toko's expression.

She coughed once, twice before smoke and blood came out from her mouth. Robin's eyes widened as did the other two.

Toko wiped the blood off her face. "I told you. It would have been better for all of us if you would have let me take you."

"What are you talking about? What's going on?" Dojima demanded.

"I'm not stupid." Toko stated. "I know what happened between her and Amon." She shakily rose to her feet. "and if you did your job, miss Dojima, you would know that this witch needs to be hunted."

Dojima gaped at her.

"At least for now, get her out of here. She's no longer welcome under my roof." The woman spat before crawling back inside through the broken window.

Dojima turned her gaze away from the window and back to Robin. She knew how pathetic she must have looked, covered in tears, blood and her clothing ripped and misshapen. She was a wreck. Her friend gave her a pitying look before starting towards her and offering her hand. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Not able to speak due to her trembling lower lip, Robin nodded. She took Dojima's hand. Her mind was numb and her thoughts were silent. Only vaguely hearing Dojima softly remind her to be careful as she helped her inside. Only just barely remembering to grab her suitcase before leaving.

They passed Toko on their way out. Robin tilted her head away from the ground and caught her eyes for a second.

There was a sadness and shame in her eyes. There was a look of loss. Loss…

What was 'loss'? She had never really had the feeling before. But in that second Robin saw what she was losing. Toko had been a great friend…even though there was so much that had been kept a secret between them, even though they almost _had_ to hate each other…Toko had been…maybe even like a sister.

Robin was losing a sister because they had, before even meeting, been designated to have a feud. Because she had been immature.

She was losing more than she had even known she had.

The second was over, that second that the two of them had shared so much, and Robin turned back to the floor. It was all that she could do to hold back the tears.

Down many flights of stairs and out into the street, Robin followed Dojima, dreading every step that soon she would ask about it.

They reached Dojima's candy-apple-red car. The blonde turned to her. "Well, what happened?"

How was she supposed to answer that?

_Toko found out._ That much was obvious.

_She thinks I'm a witch._ But how is that even relevant?

_We were angry. _

_She thinks I'm losing control._ Could she be right?

_She tried to kill me._ It had been both ways.

She had wanted to hurt her. The fire had shown her that. It knew what she wanted deep down. It knew the sinful thoughts that plagued her mind. Yes, oh yes the fire knew it all.

Robin knew as well. She was the worst kind of person. But she wasn't going to admit that to herself. She knew but she denied, what else could she do? It was much easier to blame others than herself. It was much easier…

"Toko found out…" She mumbled. "And she was angry, I was angry…we were arguing and pushed each other - I don't know why…"

But how was this not her fault?

She had done the worst to Toko as a person could.

_Liar!_

_Hypocrite!_

_Faker!_

_Whore!_

"I don't know…I don't know what to do!" She was suddenly sobbing.

"Oh, Robin." Dojima whispered softly, pulling her into an embrace.

"I don't - I just don't want to do this anymore!"

Dojima patted the back of her head as if soothing a restless puppy. "And you don't have to."

"You don't understand…." _How can I escape myself?_

No one could go back in time and change things. If she could, she would. Right at that moment that was the only thing she wanted.

But did her actions really matter? Would the same thing continue? Was she really just losing control? Even now she could feel herself shaking, the constant heat, the flickering pain…

"Robin!" A familiar baritone voice broke through her thoughts. He sounded surprised and worried. And not in the way were she would have to work to figure that out, but in a genuine honest way. He wasn't trying to hide it.

Amon came running up to them from across the street where he was parked. Worry was actually written on his face, his eyebrow perched high on his forehead, his eyes widened and his lips slightly parted. "Did something happen?" He glanced between the building and Robin. "I had a feeling she was going to do something."

Dojima glared at him, Robin peeking out from behind the older girls arm that kept her close. "It could have been avoided if you would have cut things off with her when this thing started."

"I had even before then, Dojima. Don't talk as if you know what's going on." Amon spoke to her with the same cold air he usually did.

"She didn't seem to see it that way."

"Then she saw it wrong." He said in a finalized way before turning his gaze to Robin.

His gaze softened but quickly became sorrowful. _Why do I keep hoping?_ Amon thought, he had to give up on this dream. Whether or not the research he wanted to conduct would be such a great step in moving forward for all of Solomon. It wasn't going to happen.

No. That wasn't what this was about. There was something else he wanted that Robin's presence made possible. It wasn't completely possible without the other because he wasn't supposed to do it in the first place. Maybe the first dream was only there as a stepping stone to the second. The thing he was told he could never do, never have, because of something he couldn't change. His genes were tainted. But the only thing he wanted, even when he was a child, was to have a family.

But if he were to have a family with her, their children would suffer the way he had. It was the whole point.

But if he sided with her, stayed with her, and went back on Zeizen…could it be possible.

_I already told the Father, I already decided!_

His eyes appeared to be searching for something in her face, something he hadn't seen before…like a student scouring through a textbook for an answer. Robin supposed that he must be waiting for her to tell him what happened. "You don't have to worry, Amon, I'm alright."

He wasn't stupid. Amon knew that she hadn't been alright for a long time. There had been a strain on her, something she couldn't handle.

Before he could speak up and say that she was not all right, Dojima beat him to the punch. Gravely she whispered. "Actually, Robin, you're not."

Robin looked up at her, face contorted in confusion.

"We received a call at the office from the doctor that saw you the other day."

It seemed as if the world stopped. The worse part was that it could mean anything, from something like forget something at the hospital to having some incurable disease. You never knew when it came to the doctor. So Robin and Amon just held their breaths, hoping for the best.

"We had a lot of tests done, remember?" How could she forget hours of poking and prodding? "On your X-rays…- I can't describe it- you'd have to see for yourself."

_My x-ray's? _That was the last thing she was expecting. "Oh…okay."

"Dojima, please just tell us." Amon could wait for hours outside of a target's house but when it came to Dojima, he had zero patience.

"But-!"

"Please." He repeated.

She looked down at Robin. "It was as if your insides were burnt."


	7. Hostile Feelings Part 2

**Chapter Six (P.2):**

**Hostile Feelings**

Robin sat in the hospital's waiting room, operatively 'waiting' for her new temporary-guardian to pick her up. Now that Toko was no longer willing, Dojima had asked Karasuma to do it. She couldn't herself because she was not twenty yet and, because of their relationship, Amon couldn't either. Why he couldn't just drive her over to Karasuma's house was beyond her. Why Dojima decided to wait with her and Amon was another odd one.

Robin shifted in her seat and kept her eyes on her hands that rested in her lap. Everything felt very awkward, she would have much rather been by herself at that moment. The last thing she needed was for Dojima to start acting as if she needed protection. And Amon…after what happened with Toko, she felt terrible about being near him.

She stole a glance at him. It wasn't as if she wanted too. She just wanted the chance to start everything with him over. She had never wanted…all of _this._

Maybe she would feel better about it all if they had a normal relationship.

And maybe she wouldn't.

Robin wished it was only her and Dojima waiting.

* * *

Amon felt eyes on him. He glanced over to see Robin ducking her head and Dojima shooting him a glare over it. Rolling his eyes, he stared out in the opposite direction. Hadn't she been the one who fantasized about getting the two of them together in the first place?

As expected, Dojima had made a much bigger deal out of it then necessary. There had been some minimal internal damage that honestly could have been from anything. The doctor said that it was somewhat common among craft users to get this now and again from over using their powers and that it wouldn't be an issue unless it became worse.

He couldn't help but to think it was funny, not too long ago if he heard news like this he would have jumped full on into a hunt, while now he shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

…No, it really wasn't funny…the only reason it seemed trivial was because he was already going to hunt her. _That's twisted._

What was even more twisted was that he felt he was important to her, she had wanted him here with her, to support her. But Dojima seemed to have other plans of her own.

After the doctor explained the x-rays, the blond pushed him out here into the waiting room saying that they needed to discuss 'girl stuff'. And now she was bringing Karasuma in? Ok, so he understood that part but did she have to wait here with them?

Amon could tell that Robin was still jittery about all that happened in the last few hours, he couldn't exactly console her with her best friend playing the part of older brother.

* * *

Oh yes, Yurika Dojima had her own agenda. She picked the time that this hospital would be most busy to bring Robin in and do this. Okay so that hadn't been planned but it turned out in her favor. She needed to know this for herself, it wasn't just because she was nosy but because she was Robin's friend.

And because she was her friend, Dojima tricked her. She had a feeling that somehow Robin was going to God knows how screw up the at home pregnancy test that she gave her. Those looks in the convince store for nothing…

So, she told the doctor that Robin wanted to take one here while telling Robin it was some other test. She was hoping that, because it was so busy and that Karasuma lived right by the hospital, they would leave by the time the doctor came back.

Dojima was glaring daggers at the back of Pedo-Amon's head when Karasuma ran in and spotted the three of them. She shook her head and waved for Robin to follow her. Amon followed the two of them as they headed toward the door.

Karasuma turned on her heel, glaring him down. "_You're_ not coming with us!" She promptly grabbed Robin by the arm and stalked off.

She kind of felt bad for Amon. He looked like a kicked puppy. But the doctor was making his way over to her with the information that could possibly change her mind in a heartbeat.

* * *

It was staring to get to him. "You're _not coming with us!"_

Wasn't Robin somewhat at fault here too? It wasn't as if he seduced her. Well…not until later…

Since when was everyone on her side and not on his? This must have been how Robin felt before…

…When he had her poised against everyone else. It hadn't been fair. He had done wrong.

He had hurt her. She was still hurting.

"Why the fuck should I care!" He was seated in his car with his elbows on the wheel, running his fingers through his hair.

He was going to kill her anyway! What did it matter!

Amon felt his phone vibrating. Robin was texting him.

**see u tom. at work?**

He smiled.

**yea. Sorry for everything, see u then.**

**Robin: don't have to be sorry**

**(User): I am. I should take better care of you**

**Robin: I'm ok**

He hated that she always said that. It wasn't true and they both knew it.

**(User): if anythings wrong you can talk to me**

**Robin: I'm fine**

**Robin: Karasuma is telling me to stop txting and unpack**

**(User): call me if she gives you trouble**

**Robin: ok see you**

**(User): love you, bye**

His heart raced, waiting for her reply. After ten minutes of constantly checking his phone, he decided that she probably didn't see it.

Amon stared at the last text he sent.

What the hell was he doing?

'_love you'_

"Damn."

* * *

Robin sat in the passenger's seat of Karasuma's car, watching the city zoom by. Her current caretaker was giving off vibes of annoyance. She obviously wasn't too happy about their situation.

"You didn't have to agree to this." Robin muttered, not turning away from the window.

Karasuma sighed. "Where else were you going to go?"

Her forehead rested against the window; it was cold. She scrunched up and pulled out her cell. "Well, Amo-"

"Amon," She snapped. "Wasn't an option."

Robin rolled her eyes, briefly glancing at the last few brown leaves drifting away from bare trees. Her eyes came back to her phone; she had one message. "It's not like we'd be doing it all the time if that's what you guys are afraid of." Her retort was barely audible, yet the older woman still caught it.

"You really should consider taking this seriously."

It was from Amon, left from last night. "I am!" How could she not? She really needed to talk to Amon, Robin was pretty sure he would understand if she told him that they should cool it for a while. Wait for things to blow over or until HQ comes in and takes care of Zeizen.

"Really now?" Karasuma was much different from Toko, she was much more serious about everything, much more strict too. The second Robin entered her house all Karasuma did was list off rules. It almost made her want to break them.

"Yes," Robin knew that she was going to have to explain, so she continued. "Amon and I want to prove to you guys that we can have a perfectly normal relationship and should be taken seriously as a couple." Well, she hadn't said anything to him about it but it was what she wanted and he probably wanted it too. At least, maybe if things were to turn out that way, then maybe everything could go back to normal.

Karasuma snorted. "The fact that even you can't call it normal proves that it's not." she noticed Robin fiddling with her phone from the corner of her eye. "Are you still texting him? You'll see each other in, like, five minutes!"

"This is from last night!" She was beginning to hope that she wouldn't have to live with her for long.

Robin opened the message.

**Amon3: love you, bye**

She felt empty.

'love you'?

"What's wrong?" Karasuma asked upon the sight of the young girl freezing. Robin's hand had made it's way up to her mouth. Her green eyes were widened in shock or confusion, yet somehow seemed to furrow together as if in thought.

"Huh?" Robin shook herself out of her trance.

"Is something wrong?" She repeated.

"No." Her reply was hollow. It was obvious to Karasuma that there was something the matter but Robin only smiled at her. "People have been asking me that a lot lately."

She was fine. She would be. If only she could get things back to normal.

* * *

Robin and Karasuma stepped out of the elevator. Amon got out of his seat and came towards her. She was completely bewildered as he embraced her and kissed her. "Good morning, Robin."

She blinked and flicked her eyes across the room. " Uh, yeah. Morning."

Sakaki muttered to Karasuma as she took her spot at her desk. "Wonder what Zeizen thinks about all of this."

She hadn't thought of that before. Robin took a step back, away from him, her eyes trying to avoid his.

They landed on Michael. His face was bright red. Shifting repeatedly in his seat, he tried to hide his face behind a file.

Robin shouldered his arms off of her and moved around him to take her seat.

This was _not_ normal.

It felt so wrong.

Amon cleared his throat. "I'm going to scout out the site from a few days ago." It sounded like an offer.

Robin closed her eyes. She wished she were invisible. He wanted her to come with him, she could feel his eyes on her, but she didn't want to go. Everyone else would assume they weren't really scouting out the area.

But he was standing there, waiting for her to come with him.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach Robin followed him out.

She kept her pace so that she was a few steps behind him. He would slow down for her to catch up with him but she would slow down then too. The silence followed them into his car.

Robin shifted herself so that she was leaning against the window. They had done things in this car that she didn't want to think about. She really did not want to be there with him.

Amon could sense something was up, that much was obvious. She felt bad about making him feel guilty.

"Did I do something?" His voice was quiet. Now she felt really bad.

"No, I'm just a bit…" She sighed.

"Did Karasuma give you a lot of crap?"

"Not really."

"Okay." He turned the key in the ignition and started the car.

After a few minutes of starring at the barren trees and listening to the soft murmur of the engine Robin turned so that her back was almost to him. "Amon?" It came out as a hesitant whisper.

"Hmm?"

She blinked and pushed her warm face harder against the cool glass. "Do you love me?" The words came out with a hollow ring. As if she knew the answer and dreaded it.

"Of course I love you, Robin." She shifted again. He glanced over at her after a moment's of silence. "Is something wrong?"

"People have to stop asking me that."

She felt the car slow and come to a stop, but they were not at their destination. He left the car running and turned to her. "Are you upset over what happened with Toko?"

Robin eyed the frost on a nearby tree. "Yeah."

"We weren't very fair to her." Robin shook her head in agreement. "I should have made things clear…can you forgive me?" She nodded.

Robin watched as a small breeze blew the frost from the tree branch.

"There's something else, isn't there?" His voice was soft.

It looked like snow. But only for a moment.

"I was sick when you were gone." No, she hadn't been sick…there was something she needed. Something she hadn't been able to get.

"You were still sick when I got back."

She had needed to release. And she needed him for that. "I guess I missed you too much." Robin turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her lips found his and all of a sudden it wasn't so cold anymore.

Robin hastily started undoing Amon's pants. "Are you sure?" He murmured breathlessly in her ear.

"Mmmhmmm." was her only answer before they tumbled into the backseat.

She wished it had snowed.

* * *

"Did you find anything suspicious at the site today?" Karasuma asked as Robin came in her front door after Amon dropped her off.

"Hmm?" She had a stupid smile on her face as well as a pink blush that somehow didn't go away.

"Today. The site you and Amon went to scout out. You were there the whole day." Karasuma explained dryly. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what really happened.

Robin hung up her coat and started towards the dinning table. "Right." They had gone to the site later that day. They weren't that unprofessional. "Not really it was another dead end."

"You really shouldn't do that while on the clock." Did she want to press Robin's buttons that badly?

"Do what?" She put her frozen meal into the microwave.

Karasuma swallowed down the last of her supper before replying. "Have sex with him. I thought you said this morning that you were going to 'cool it'."

Robin took her food out and sat down across from her ward. She couldn't hide the smug look that covered her face. "I've never felt better." Karasuma visibly twitched. She glanced at her phone. "Dojima tried to call?"

"She wasn't at work today."

"I wonder what she does on days she skips?" Robin quietly mused. She flipped her phone back into her pocket.

"She probably has friends outside of the STN that she meets with." Karasuma answered, getting up from her seat to clean her plate. "That's what everybody else does on our days off."

Robin pondered this for a while. She had never thought about what her co-workers did on their time off. Of course they would have friends. She was the only one who didn't.

"Speaking of," Karasuma started, coming back to the table and resting one hand lightly on it's surface. "I'm having someone over tomorrow night and I want you to be on your best behavior."

Slurping up her noodles with a gulp, Robin blinked and tilted her head slightly to one side. "Ok, sure." On her best behavior? Who could possibly be coming? "Who's coming over?"

The usually composed hunter became extremely flustered. "His name is Narumi Hideki. We have been together for a little over a year now." She spoke a tad louder than usual.

"I can leave for the night if you want me to." Robin offered.

Karasuma blushed and closed her eyes in irritation. "Unlike _some_ people, we're doing it the right way."

The 'right way'? Wow. Thanks. "What's our job then?" Robin acted as if the comment didn't affect her.

"I've told him that I work in law and that everything is top secret." Well, it wasn't a lie. "And you're you, living here because of the same reasons. But you are only an intern." Of course she would have mentioned the "scandalous" behavior of her new roommate.

Robin immediately told Amon about this the next day. He warned her to be good. "Be good"? like he should talk. Just for that, maybe she wouldn't.

* * *

"Hideki, this is Robin." Karasuma gestured to her.

He smiled at her and held out his right hand for her to shake. "Hi Robin, I've heard so much about you."

"She's never mentioned _you_." She shook his hand politely enough. A handshake, though, seemed a bit odd. Still, she did so with a smile. Of course she was smiling because of the scowl on Karasuma's face.

"Well, that comes with the job, right?" He smiled again. It bothered her. Why couldn't she be that happy?

She shrugged in response and sat down at the table. "Dinner's almost ready, So you two can get situated." Karasuma said, smiling at him but when she turn around she shot a glare a Robin.

Robin only smiled bigger.

"So Robin, how are you?" Hideki asked, sitting across from her.

"Just _wonder_ful, I totally love getting kicked out of my house and having everyone I know think there's something wrong with me." Sarcasm just dripping from her words.

He only chuckled. "One of _those_ weeks, huh?"

Robin suppressed the urge to laugh with him. She leaned forward and rested her cheek in her hand. "What are we having for dinner?"

"You'll find out in a minute!"

"What do you do outside of work, Robin?" Why did he keep asking her questions?

She shrugged. "Not much…hang out with my boyfriend." It was still odd to call him that.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Didn't she tell you?" Robin nodded towards the kitchen. "I thought you 'heard so much about me'."

His smile bugged her. "You found me out." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me more about this boyfriend of yours."

"What's there to tell?" She asked warily.

His eyes softened. "You're a good kid."

"I'm not a kid."

The man's eyes glazed. "That's true, not anymore."

Karasuma entered the room with a steaming pot of who knows what. "Your boyfriend's weird."

The older woman cleared her throat. "_fiancé_."

Robin's eyes widened and she quickly glanced between the two. It was then when she noticed the identical rings on their left ring finger.

Hideki laughed. "That surprised?"

She was staring straight at Karasuma. "You're getting married?" If they did then he would have to know about their world, about witches and hunters! Their kids could very well become craft-users just like Karasuma, letting him in on the secret would be essential. That meant that a new person would become a part of their group.

Robin didn't want change.

She wanted things to go back to normal.

"Eventually, we don't have a date set just yet." Hideki answered for her.

_No one_ answers for Karasuma. Not even Amon.

Robin did not like this guy.

But Karasuma sure did.

Everything was 'Hideki' this and 'Miho' that. And they kept kissing! All the time! It was gross. Robin pondered the thought of vomiting all over them for revenge.

Dinner was ready, they kissed. Dinner was done, they kissed. Plates were clean, they kissed. Picked out a movie, started the movie, Practically every new scene of the movie!

It wasn't as if they made-out or anything, which would be preferable because then they would be too engrossed in each other to realize she left the room. Karasuma protested at every attempt Robin had in scooting away, telling her that she was being 'anti-social'.

Finally he left. Not with out a few more kisses of course.

Robin openly showed her disgust when Karasuma turned away from the door after he left. "If I have to watch you and Amon all the time, it's only fair." She cast the girl a condescending look before walking to her room.

That jerk! She made her watch all that for revenge? It wasn't as if they ever did anything in front of anyone anyway! The person who _should_ be getting revenge was her!

And she knew just how to do it.

* * *

"Amon?" Robin whispered into her phone.

"Robin? Did something happen?" He worried to much. She had counted on it.

"Nothing. It's just…" She knew exactly what to do to get what she wanted.

"Just?"

"Can I come over?"

There was a silence on the other line. Then finally, "What about Karasuma?"

"I can leave out the window in my room."

"I don't want you running around outside at night." He didn't like this idea of hers, but it didn't matter. It was going to happen anyway.

"Well I'm going to unless you pick me up."

"She's going to get mad at me again…" He sighed. "I'll pick you up at the end of the street."

Robin gratefully hopped into Amon's car. The warmth invited her inside in comparison to the frosty cold air that sharply blew around her outside.

She rubbed her nose and smiled at him. "Thanks Amon."

He was not as indifferent as usual. "What's this about?" His tone was as sharp as the icy wind outside. Her eyes dropped to her feet.

"I don't know." Her voice was low. Honestly she didn't know why she had to come up with this stupid idea. She didn't know…what much of anything was about lately.

"There must have been a reason or else you wouldn't have stood out there in the cold, waiting for me to come and get you." Amon's voice became soft, quieter. "Robin?"

She wanted to answer him. Oh, what Robin would have given to show him how she felt. To tell him that she didn't know what the point of any of this was for. That it seemed pointless. She just wanted to fall into him and cry. Wasn't what they were supposed to do? As a couple?

No. Not them. They weren't like that. They couldn't be.

It needed to be said but Robin couldn't do it. She needed him. She _wanted_ him.

Yet she wanted him to go away.

Robin had to tell him. That she regretted so many things. That she was afraid. That she felt - no - knew they had done wrong.

She wanted things normal.

Normally she wouldn't tell him personal things.

She shouldn't tell him.

Things had to - they _had_ to return to normal.

Robin didn't notice the tears rolling down her cheeks until it was too late. He had seen them. She couldn't stop them.

"I just really need you right now." She sobbed, violently shaking. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth. Robin knew that and it made it worse. The tears flowed fast and free.

And Amon had no idea why. He wouldn't. Never.

What kind of hole was she digging?

* * *

"Are you hungry?" Amon asked as they entered his apartment. Robin shook her head and took a seat on the bed.

He grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV. "Is there anything on tonight?" Amon did not want her here, she could tell too. She understood why because she had the same feeling, but necessity came over want.

Robin stood up and took the remote out of his hands. "Why don't we just go to bed?" She spoke softly as she leaned across him to place it on the table, still holding on of his hands in her own.

"You're tired?" He couldn't play the innocent card as well as she could.

"Not exactly." She whispered in his ear, thinking it was funny that everyone thought _he_ was the one seducing _her. _The hand not holding onto his rested on his shoulder and she was practically sitting on him with his legs between hers.

* * *

Amon couldn't help but wonder if this was the reason she wanted to see him. Not that it wasn't a good reason, normally that is. Being a bit more discreet at a time like this would be the…mature thing to do. But that didn't stop him from unzipping her dress as he lifted her up and moved forward to his bed.

It had seemed like she wanted to talk about something earlier, hopefully Robin would tell him later. If not then he'd have to try to get her to talk.

This distance between them needed to be fixed and soon.

* * *

"I love you" She had heard him murmur this countless times as they entangled themselves together, but hearing it now felt different. Amon had never said it any other time then when they were having sex until a few days ago. The word took on a whole other mean now. More genuine, more honest.

Robin didn't like it. Every time she thought he it was going to slip out, she would keep his mouth busy with something else. Her tongue, her neck, her body. It bothered her because she never said it. Not even during sex.

And she didn't want to.

It was just like how she was always frantic and forceful, while he was so gentle. Like he cared about her.

Didn't she care about him?

But those terrible penetrating thoughts, the ones that had bore their way into her normal consciousness, the ones that always made her question or rush into things disappeared as she released.

There was only shame when from the corner of her eye she could see the flames appear in the air around them only to dissipate into smoke by Amon's ice that followed.

As if to convince herself that the act wasn't just an excuse for her craft, her movements became more frantic. Trying, so hard, to convince the flames to leave her alone for just one night.

* * *

She woke to the familiar sound of her phone ringing. Amon reached down to retrieve it from a pocket in her dress that had been discarded on the floor last night. "It's Karasuma," he muttered, half asleep, as he handed it to her.

Robin still glanced at the caller ID before she answered. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Karasuma's voice snapped through the speaker. "Wait, let me guess…Amon's place." Robin was pretty sure the brunette could hear her blushing. "Well?"

"Sorry."

"Is that all you have to say!" She sighed and continued in a calmer tone. "Could you just let me speak with Amon?"

"Okay." Robin shrugged and handed it to him. She laid back down and curled herself up under the covers for warmth. It was getting too cold to sleep naked.

"I know, I know." She heard him say. "She's just...hard to say no to." Robin could hear Karasuma's voice rise to a loud, barely unrecognizable, mumble. "I meant that she's stubborn." Robin smiled. He sighed. "Well, what do you want me to do." Amon snapped into the phone. "I get that but that's not something I can change." She heard her voice get loud again. "I'm not! It's not like that. I wish it was different but what can I do." Robin held her breath in the silence. "bye."

Robin poked her head out from underneath the covers. "What was that all about?"

"She's condemning me on the fact that your nearly eight years younger than me." He sighed as he handed back her phone. "Like it's my fault who I fall in love with." He didn't say it sarcastically, but in his normal dry tone.

There it was. That word again. That word that demanded to be said in a pair.

A silence filled the air for a moment.

"We better get ready for work, if we're late she'll eat us alive." Amon leaned over to his dresser.

Getting chewed out first thing in the morning, Robin could tell this was not going to be a very good day.

* * *

How right she was.

Karasuma, Sakaki and Michael were all crowded around her desk when she stepped out of the elevator. They looked up at the two of them and shied away in embarrassment.

"What were you guys doing?" Robin asked.

It didn't take long before she found the answer.

Taped to her computer screen was a notice. At the top, in bold it read: **STN Japan branch Hunter Robin Sena is discharged from her duties under the Japan branch for inappropriate behavior in the workplace.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	8. Addiction

**Chapter Seven:**

**Addiction**

The STN didn't fire people. Their people knew to much. While the paper stated that she was to be transferred back to Italy, Robin knew the truth.

It was time. Zeizen was going to kill her.

Her eyes darted to Amon's. There was no need for words.

_Move!_

Amon nodded just ever so slightly.

She crumpled the paper in her hands and called upon some tears before running out.

"Robin!" He called and started after her.

The others had no idea that this was an act.

Cameras would be everywhere. Zeizen wasn't going to put anything to chance. Cars and rooms would be bugged, phones would be tracked.

Robin threw her cell to the ground just as Dojima pulled into the lot, causing her to run over it. The blond stopped and burst out of her car. "Robin!" She called only to be ignored.

She hopped onto her vespa and started putting on her helmet. Her fingers shook as she tried to do the latch.

"Robin!" Dojima repeated as she reached her.

"I don't have time, Dojima." She snapped, starting the vehicle.

"But-!"

"I don't have time!" Robin shouted. She narrowly missed her friend as she backed out and zoomed past.

* * *

The plan would have gone a bit smoother if he had tripped down the stairs…twice. He was a bit more anxious than he thought.

Robin had just left when Amon ran in, brushing past a stunned Dojima towards his car.

They had a plan. It was thought up not long ago. Robin was to dispose of her scooter somewhere then reach Karasuma's house on foot where he would pick her up after checking both his room and his car for bugs. Amon would hide her at his place until they could transport her out of Japan.

"Amon!" He turned slightly at the sound of her voice. Dojima gave him a long look. Amon opened the car door and started to get inside. "Are you going to see Robin?"

He sat down and grabbed the door handle. Amon looked up at her silently in answer.

"I need to talk to her." Dojima explained.

"We already know." Amon slammed the door shut. How would she have found out before them? It didn't matter now, he had something to do.

Amon had two things to do, and only one of them could happen.

He had to rescue her and send her back home.

He had to hunt her down. Now.

But the first continued to surface. Urgency swam through his veins. It didn't feel wrong.

* * *

Amon took to nervous pacing, which was difficult in his small apartment. "I'll have to secure a plane ticket without Zeizen knowing. . ." He stopped at the door to his closet. "I'll have you stay here until then."

"What if someone comes here looking for me?" Robin asked from her spot at the table.

"Two things," Amon indicated with his fingers, "the first is here," he opened the door to the closet and waved for her to come over. Curious, Robin followed him over. Amon moved a box out of the way before pushing against the back wall. To her surprise, a section of the wall flapped back. "It leads to my neighbors closet, a building defect."

"I can hide in there if I need to." Robin nodded in understanding.

"And if needed, the second-" Amon stopped abruptly and turned towards the door. Robin had missed it before, but now she heard the distinct sound of heels clacking across the floor towards the room.

They heard the doorknob rattle. It was a good thing Amon had locked the door. He motioned for her to hide. Robin nodded in response and ducked down through the passage.

"Coming," Amon's voice echoed through the walls. It sounded strangely eerie from her spot hidden away in the dark. The door opened. "What do you want Karasuma?"

In the darkness she felt vulnerable.

"What do you think?" She snapped.

"You're looking for Robin,"

"Is she here?"

"What do you think?"

Robin could practically _hear_ the annoyance rolling off of her. "Please, Amon," she sighed, "I know you're trying to protect her but it's not helping." Amon made a little noise as if he were about to speak but Karasuma cut him off. "Regardless of what you feel or may not feel, your influence is not good for her. This is not what she needs in her life right now."

What did she know? Robin glared daggers through the wall where she assumed Karasuma stood.

"I know."

_What?_ He couldn't be serious…could he?

"Care to elaborate?" Robin could hear some shuffling around and assumed that Karasuma had started to examine the room.

"She needs to go somewhere," Amon spoke quietly, "a place where she can get back on her feet."

What was that supposed to mean? She didn't need to "get back on" she hadn't fallen!

_Oh really?_

"I'm surprised you noticed it too."

"I don't need a craft to be able to understand someone I'm close to."

"I don't either," she snapped. After a pause, the shuffling around continued. She sighed, "speaking of craft…"

"Do you think I'd tell you that if it were true?" Karasuma suspected her now too?

_That shouldn't be much of a surprise._

"Your right," her voice was closer now.

"All she needs is to get a hold of herself and she'll be fine." Amon…thought that? Robin pulled her knees tight against her chest.

"So you also think the doctor was rationalizing things?" She was most-definitely in the closet.

"Not at first but…" But what?

"Okay, why am I getting such a huge reading in here?" Karasuma demanded. Scrying, of course.

"I don't know, all she did was hang her coat up and take it down."

"Confused," Karasuma murmured, "angry, hurt…she was here not too long ago, wasn't she?" There was a short pause, Robin assumed Amon nodded. "And you didn't bother to ask where she was going?"

"Sorry."

She heard footsteps going in the opposite direction. "Later, Amon."

"She's gone," his voice sounded just outside the opening in the wall. He must have assumed she couldn't hear him earlier. _He thinks I'm losing it, like he'd want me to hear that._

What a jerk! If he had something to say, he should say it to her face!

_Burn him!_

Robin suppressed a giggle. _Can't do that, I need him._

She crawled out of the hole and took Amon's hand, outstretched to help her up. Robin smiled at him, she needed it again.

She looked up into his eyes, her eyelids just fluttering in that way she knew would get him. Her smiles became a tool. "Amon?"

He knew just what she was doing, and she knew he knew as well. He always did.

"Robin," he sighed, "don't."

But it never mattered before.

"Don't what?" She tilted her head, feigning the innocent look she used to have.

"You know."

Robin squeezed his hand tightly and gazed down at them. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Amon recoiled his hand. "Please Robin, not now."

"Why not!" She glared up at him, then averted her eyes. She hadn't meant for her protest to come out so childish.

"Don't take it personally, Robin. There's a lot going on at the moment." He smiled at her. "Anyway, don't you want to learn about my other secret spot?"

* * *

_What am I doing?_ Robin thought as she slipped, once again, on the steep and narrow, spiraling and dark, staircase. Amon had drawn out a map for her of these secret passageways under Raven's Flat. If, for whatever reason, she absolutely had to get in touch with him then she could take this path and talk to him in secret.

It was supposed to be used for emergencies. She was supposed to go to a payphone and let his phone ring twice before hanging up, to signal that she was coming.

What could it hurt to check the place out?

_My knees,_ Robin thought with a laugh. Wearing heels wasn't the best idea for the stairs.

She took another step up and hit her head. "Ow," Robin felt out the ceiling and sat down on a step. What was she supposed to do now?

That morning had been so exciting that she didn't have the chance to think. It sucked. What was she supposed to do?

She remembered Amon turning her away. What he had said, thinking she wasn't listening. Did he not love her?

How could she think that, when she knew that she…That he…

Robin buried her face in her hands. That stupid heat! If only Amon had wanted to, if only he hadn't said those things!

It came back as a headache. Pounding, piercing, it was too much.

Tears started to come, only to evaporate as steam before running all the way down her cheeks. Steam filled the tiny passageway and made breathing difficult. She was sick off it. Nothing happened the way she wanted it to. Nothing good seemed to happen anymore.

The sound of footsteps echoed above her. Robin imagined that it must be Amon, that he must have known she was there. It made her angry. He was last person she wanted to deal with.

"Finally," the muffled voice wasn't Amon's, it was Michael. "A break."

Without stopping to think, Robin called out, "Michael!"

After a pause Michael tentatively spoke, "Robin?"

"Yeah, it's me." She couldn't help but smile at the sound of his voice.

"Where are you?"

She laughed, "honestly, I'm not sure. But somewhere under the floor I guess."

"Oh." They shared the silence for a while, it comforted Robin. "So, I guess you're going back to Italy?"

"Yeah,"

Now the silence felt heavy, somber. He was sad to see her go. She never wanted to leave.

"Is Amon going with you?" He sounded as if he were accusing her when he asked.

"He doesn't have to, I'll be back before long." Amon would probably be mad at her for telling this to Michael. "There's something bigger going on here."

"Sounds complicated," Michael sighed, "are you sure about it?"

"Amon and I know what we're doing."

"Robin," Michael started, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course!"

"And you won't get mad?"

Why would she? "No, not at all!"

"Do you love him?"

There it was.

Robin's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

"Do you love Amon?" Now that it was the second time, he spoke with more certainty.

It was this question, this stupid question that followed her. Why couldn't she say it like he did? Why couldn't she utter those words he longed to hear?

Why did she often think of him as a need than a want?

Why didn't she know?

Her mouth went dry and suddenly she had trouble speaking. "We-well I…" The words she was supposed to say wouldn't come. Her eyes drifted down in the darkness.

"I don't know."

Dark silence crushed in on her at all sides. Who did things like that? To throw her life on the life for something she may not even want? How foolish! What had she been thinking?

It all came at her, the heat, the words, the pain.

_"Why would I be jealous of a baby faced whore like you?"_

Toko was right.

Those stupid tears came again. Those stupid tears that couldn't even make it halfway down her cheeks!

"Could you figure it out?" Michael's voice pierced through the darkness. "Please, for me?"

Robin smiled. She wiped her eyes and whispered hoarsely, "yes," then loader and with confidence, "I will!"

* * *

"Robin!" Amon burst into the room that night, a tiny slip of paper in hand.

She raised her head sleepily from the bed where she had been resting. What could have happened now?

"I've got your flight!"

Oh, that.

He stood in the doorway, excited and out of breath. His eyes were searching hers. Was she worried, excited, nervous? How was he supposed to receive her?

Robin sighed. She never wondered about him like that. "When?"

"Two days."

"Two days…"

Their eyes locked, just for a moment. His face, full with compassion and worry only reminded her of Toko. A person who genuinely cared for her.

She quickly averted her eyes.

"We'll be apart only for a small time, don't worry." He moved closer.

"It's not that…"

Robin wanted to find an answer before she left. She wanted to be able to answer Michael's question. But what if her answer was no? She looked back up at Amon. "Don't worry, we have everything planned out, everything will be fine." He smiled and ruffled her hair.

If the answer was no….then what about Amon?

* * *

He couldn't look at her with those reassuring eyes any longer. He excused himself to the bathroom and started the shower. Yeah Amon had gotten the tickets, but he didn't hide the purchase. Zeizen would know.

_How could I have hidden it anyway!_ It wasn't as if Zeizen didn't have access to anything and everything about him and everything he did. The problem was that he didn't even try to find a way around it.

He didn't even try!

Shouldn't he be protecting her? Not leading her into more trouble?

No. No! _No!_

He was supposed to be hunting her! He was supposed to be making her escape impossible!

But Robin…She was…

Everything. He looked into her face and saw nothing but perfection. Robin couldn't be more wonderful. She made him think, she made him feel alive. How could he…

How could he live without her?

Amon thought all this, but he knew she was suffering. He didn't know how to help her, especially when she wouldn't let him in.

_I'll try again tonight,_ he decided.

He turned the dial, letting the water clear out all of his uncertain thoughts. What could he do? He could do everything and nothing. Why did it have to be his choice? _Was_ it even his choice?

Part of him, the soft part that hid in his core, knew he had a choice. It twisted inside him, trying to worm a decision out of him or cause him to vomit…he wasn't sure which.

The other part, boldly cowering just at the surface, resigned him to his fate. Sitting like a rock, it covered everything underneath. Safe and sure, it simply sat.

Moss always grew underneath.

_Ring! Ring!_ The noise brought Amon's attention away from his thoughts. He vaguely worried that Robin might forget the situation and pick up the phone, but just as the thought rose she knocked on the door.

"Amon?"

"I'll get it," he turned off the water and pulled on his pants before he hoped out. "Thanks," Amon muttered as Robin handed him the phone. "Hello?"

"Amon," it was Michael.

"What's up?" He didn't fail to notice the boy's urgency and the low secrecy of his voice.

"I don't know exactly what's going on," the sound came out gravely and full of static. Why would Michael of all people be talking on such a crappy line? "but I had to let you know." There was a short pause, filled with a shuffling sound. "The factory, the workers from there are congregating around your place."

"Already?" Amon gasped before he could censor himself.

"Robin said that something was going on, I just-" he sighed, "I just want to make sure everything was okay."

"Robin said?" Amon glanced briefly at her, wondering when she found the time to gossip with Michael.

"What did I say?" Robin asked, not expecting an answer.

"Yeah, thanks." Amon hung up the phone and turned to Robin's expectant gaze. "They have the building surrounded."

* * *

Surrounded? For _her_? For God's sake, she was only a girl! Regardless of what they thought, it was too much. And…the _factory?_ They weren't hunters! Sure they made orbo and managed the capture witches, but hunting one?

How did they know to come here?

The heat pricked her with paranoia. Suddenly every shadow became longer, stretching out in sinister directions. They were going to overtake her, they were going to hunt her too.

_I haven't done anything wrong!_

"Amon?" Her gaze drifted back to him. Amon would know what to do, right? He always knew what to do. On hunts, he was always so calm and collected. She admired him for it.

Amon's gaze locked with hers. The look in his eyes was the saddest she had ever seen.

Admired…

Robin shook her head. "There has to be something we can do!"

He was thinking hard, his eyes glazed with torment. Even she could see it. He was torn.

Torn?

"I'll draw them in here," Amon ran his fingers through his hair, "from the front. You can go out the back."

Robin nodded. She couldn't stop shaking. She knew the plan was faulty.

_Torn?_

"Amon…"

He didn't look at her. "Let's go."

Robin followed him down the stairs. She didn't think about what they were doing. It was just another mission, right? All she had to do was follow Amon's orders and it would all work out. Just like before, right? Just like normal, right?

He wouldn't look her in the eye.

Normal, right? Right?

Amon broke off from her, towards the entrance. Once she heard the voices, Robin slipped out the back.

The cool night air hit her skin in an instant, tensing her up. Light from streetlamps pooled in the streets as shadows crawled around every corner. Where could she go? What was she supposed to do?

Robin started to run.

"Robin!"

"Dojima?" She searched for the source of the call. Dojima jumped out of a nearby car. "What are you doing here?" Karasuma and Sakaki followed her. Robin took a step away from them.

Were they there to hunt her too?

"We noticed that the factory was on the move, well Michael did-" Sakaki started.

"They were coming here." Karasuma finished.

"And what?" Robin's eyes darted around for an escape in the open space. "You're just going to go wherever they go? You have to do whatever they do?"

Are _you going to hunt me too?_

"What's going on?" Karasuma asked.

Why did that matter? Why now? She had to be the 'sensible' one, didn't she?

"Now you ask that!" Robin laughed, "Now of all times?" They simply started at her. They didn't get it. They wouldn't. "Forget it," she spat.

Robin turned.

"Wait!" Dojima shouted, taking a step towards her. "There's something I have to tell you!"

"What could you possibly-"

"Freeze!" A man's voice cut through the night air. Robin's eyes widened.

_The factory._

She turned to face them. There he was, right in the middle of them, looking just as shocked as she was.

But then…did she really feel that surprised?

Someone pushed him forward.

"It's just part of the plan Robin," his voice shook, his eyes were alive with fear. "Don't worry."

'Don't worry?'

'Don't worry!'

Robin sank to her knees.

Amon approached her slowly. "I have to pretend to shoot you," he started. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"What are you talking about Amon?" Karasuma demanded.

He was lying.

"Witches," his voice, that terrible voice, "must be hunted." Zeizen stepped out of the group of factory workers.

"I-I have to," Amon carried on, "they won't come after you if they think you're dead."

She didn't trust him.

"Robin isn't a witch!" Karasuma shouted.

Zeizen and Karasuma continued to speak, but for Robin, they weren't really there. It was just her and Amon.

"You can escape," Amon's voice peaked up at the end. Cracked and broken.

Robin didn't feel that way. He was crying as he reached for his gun. She felt he was wrong.

Amon raised it, "I promise you, Robin," it was aimed at her head, "You will be fine."

_I have your answer, Michael._

She didn't love him.

* * *

It wasn't his choice. He was there, staring at him, watching him, controlling him. He was there. Amon's hand shook.

Couldn't he do something? He had to! She needed him! He was supposed to save her!

But he was watching. His little strings made him do it.

He never had a choice to begin with.

Amon wasn't lying, Robin could escape. She could be free from this Hell. She would ascend into the true world, far away from this dark place where lovers were forced to kill one another.

Robin stared up at him, her look was empty. She closed her eyes.

She knew what was coming.

He could hold back the tears. How badly he wanted to turn his gun on that man instead. How badly he wished he was strong enough.

He didn't have a choice. He shouldn't have started anything with her in the first place. He had always known what was going to happen.

Then why did it hurt so much?

Amon was vaguely aware of his co-workers yelling at him. They didn't understand. They wouldn't.

He closed his eyes, tears continuing to spill through.

_I love you._

His finger tightened against the trigger.

_Please forgive me._

Nothing happened. His hand still shook in position, tears still came. His finger didn't move.

Did he really have to do it? Could he choose? He hesitated, didn't that prove something?

Zeizen's voice pierced through Amon's thoughts. "Do it already!"

Amon flinched. He squeezed his eyes tighter shut.

"_Now_!"

_Bang!_

_

* * *

_

No one moved.

Robin's body rocked backwards before sagging to the side and hitting the pavement.

Amon couldn't open his eyes. He was not going to look at her.

"Monster!" Dojima's shout startled him, his eyes flew open in her direction. "She was pregnant!"

His heart skipped a beat.

Pregnant? He was…father, Robin…

_Robin!_

His body violently shook. He looked at the gun in his hand and then at Robin. Blood was everywhere.

His heart raced.

He instantly brought the gun under his chin.

Amon didn't think.

_Blam…

* * *

_

**_End

* * *

_**A/n: Thank you so much for sticking to it until the end! T_T it's been nearly 3 years! Finally my tragic story has come to an end.

First off: Yes, I planned the end from the very beginning. some minor details changed in the end EX: originally Robin was not supposed to be pregnant, but as I was writing, I decided that it would be the perfect thing to set Amon completely over board.

I had been very worried that the end wouldn't come off as natural as the rest of the story...but I think it ended up okay^^

Originally, they were going to escape together and Robin was going to go completely insane later, resulting in Amon having to kill her that way...but the original design changed quite a bit. Originally it was going to start off of Ep. 23 and it would be more action-based, but it came off corny in my first draft. So I started over and found this style, which was very fun to write.

Originally, I was going to have it be a romance also. But upon the end of ch.4 I decided against it. The story wasn't going in that direction, and it fit better this way. It was then when I decided that Robin didn't love Amon, but he would fall for her. (I'm so evil to them _)

After I outlined this story (after beginning the second draft of the 1st chap) It was meant to be 6 chaps as "rainy Night" was planned to be part of "confusion" and then "hostile feelings" became split up. I never thought six chapters would take so long X_X

It was great to write, and finally finish, this story. I put so much into it and I really hoped you enjoyed it too!

Thanks for reading, and as always, please Review!^^


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